For more than three years, Zoe Brashaw has had to live with the noise of heavy vehicle backup alarms going on all day, sometimes even before 7am.
Posted at 12:00 p.m
Isabelle Ducas The press
The resident of La Petite-Patrie lives a few meters from the construction site of the future Bellechasse transit center of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), near Saint-Laurent Boulevard.
“Even with headphones or earplugs, there is no way to block the decibel levels generated by these alarms,” Ms Brashaw said. It’s 12 hours a day, five or six days a week. I’m freaking out, it’s impossible to focus on anything. It ruins people’s lives! »
Despite the closed windows, you can clearly hear the “beep-beep-beep” of the tonal alarm system when you are in the apartment.
During meetings organized by the STM with citizens of the sector, several local residents complained about this situation that poisons their daily lives.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Hugues Montfroy lives near the site of the future STM workshop.
“It doesn’t make sense for a construction site to be so close to such a densely populated neighborhood,” protests Hugues Montfroy, a former resident who has moved partly because of the inconvenience caused by the construction site. .
However, Mr Montfroy continues to reach out to the STM and other authorities for changes. He has even contacted lawyers because he wants to take collective action with about twenty other citizens.
cricket sound
What’s shocking these citizens is that there’s now an alternative to sonic backup alarms: the less intrusive broadband alarms that emit a cricket-like “shhhhhhhhh.”
Many municipal vehicles in Montreal are now equipped with broadband alarm systems.
Why didn’t the STM require such alarms for trucks and heavy machinery on its job site?
“In addition to the subcontractors’ suppliers, we have more than 70 subcontractors. In this context, it is impossible to impose reversing alarm conditions on all trucks,” responds the organization’s spokeswoman, Amélie Régis, in an email reply.
“Many options have been evaluated to limit back-up alarms. However, most of these options were not viable and risked other repercussions. »
We regularly remind the contractor to do everything possible to limit noise pollution. Of course, we must not neglect safety on site, hence the importance of alarms.
Amélie Régis, spokeswoman for the STM, in an email
Regarding the noises that occur before 7am, Ms. Régis assures that the STM “systematically notifies the contractor to remind him of the rules in force and respect for the neighborhood when such a situation is reported”.
But the transport company estimates that “construction trucks can arrive near the site before 7 a.m.,” according to its website.
However, noises heard in the area before 7 a.m. last week did not originate from the STM construction site, according to the spokesman.