If you live along Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue, you have likely heard the blaring sound of persistent drilling from Ontario Line construction almost all day and night.
Leen Taher has lived in the neighbourhood for almost four years. She is part of a group chat with other local residents who say they are left with headaches and frustration from the incessant noise.
“Imagine you’re having to start your day with backup trucks, beep beep beep, where it seems like an alert, where it seems like your biological clock you have to be awake,” said Taher. “We have people that are on maternal leave. We have people here that are suffering anxiety. We have pets that are being affected.”
A Metrolinx spokesperson confirmed to CityNews that work at the Queen-Spadina sites is happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the north site, and Monday to Friday 7 a.m. -11 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. on the south site.
Taher said residents haven’t seen much traction after sending their concerns and requests for solutions to Metrolinx.
“There’s no response and no accountability, and no follow-ups,” Taher explained. “So you have acoustic shelters, such as an acoustic dome… another thing is the white noise machine, to be placed either in the pit, or at the back of beeper trucks, so that people don’t have to wake up to it every single day.”
Metrolinx said road headers are being used at multiple station sites, including King-Bathurst, Queen-Spadina, Osgoode-Queen. They added that acoustic shelters are being built to reduce noise, but there was no mention of whether an acoustic shelter would specifically be built at the Queen-Spadina sites.
“The reply we got is ‘oh, on the other sites we work 24/7,’ Okay sure you can work here 24/7, we don’t mind that, as long as we don’t keep hearing that dust, that sound,” said Taher.
Metrolinx acknowledged that construction can be disruptive. In a statement, the provincial transportation agency told CityNews, “We are working with our contractor to explore different methods of construction to help reduce noise as work progresses.”
“We want to assure residents that we work continuously with our contractors to monitor noise levels and implement mitigations based on community feedback. This includes, where possible, sequencing noisier work activities during the day and less disruptive activities overnight; adjusting our site operations and work processes to reduce disruptions; using less disruptive equipment; and providing custom solutions for residents.”
WHAT DO CITY BY-LAWS SAY?
According to the city, noise from provincial or federal infrastructure works is outside the scope of Toronto’s by-laws. Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik is the local city councillor for the area. She said she shares the concerns of community members.
“My team and I have called on Metrolinx for stronger community engagement, including direct meetings with the Community Liaison Committee (CLC) for each site,” Malik said in a statement. “I have reached out to senior Metrolinx staff for a comprehensive response to address resident concerns in the immediate term, and my office will be bringing this forward at the next CLC meeting as well.”
Residents who live along Queen and Spadina are encouraged to contact Metrolinx directly at 416-202-5100, or [email protected]. They are also encouraged to reach out to councillor Malik’s office or call 311.
“Very frustrating and it’s hard to see that no one can tell Metrolinx what to do, when, and how to do it,” said Taher.
Other communities in Toronto, including the Danforth and Leslieville neighbourhoods, have previously shared their concerns with CityNews about construction-related issues linked to Ontario Line construction.
The nearly 16-kilometre, 15-stop Ontario Line was first unveiled by the Ford government in 2019. Metrolinx has pegged the total cost of the project at almost $11 billion. It’s projected to be operational by 2031.
