Rosemont residents fed up after more than 3 years of 'unbearable' noise from construction site

For more than three years, RosemontLa Petite-Patrie resident Camille Lescarbeau says she's put up with incessant noise from construction near her home.

But she's finally reached a breaking pointand wants to move.

"You never know if you're going to have a day off from the sound," she said.

"On your days off, when you want to relax at home, they're still working on it. So it's just been really hard to relax and have a peaceful life."

Lescarbeau lives near the construction site of the Socit de Transport de Montral's (STM) new Bellechasse bus depot. She said that since construction began in 2019, she's been awoken at 6 a.m. almost daily bysounds of beeping trucks and yelling workers.

She said the situation became intolerable during the pandemic when both her remote schooling and work were disrupted by the sounds ofexplosions during the demolition process on the site.

"Just the stress of itit was unbearable," she said. "I'm looking I'm always looking [to move], but it's hard to find a place."

Hugues Monfroyis already gone. He used to live in the neighbourhoodbut moved away after he couldn't handle the noise anymore.

"It's like you have the truck in your living room. The problem is that it's constant.It's every day.You don't know when to expect it and itcreates anxiety, and a fight or flight response," he said.

Monfroy said the noise at the STM site often began before 7 a.m. on weekdays and before 9 a.m. on weekends, despite city regulations.

Last week, Monfroypenned an open letter to municipal and provincial officialsdemanding that the STM respect the scheduling laws put in place for construction noise, as well as replace the alarms on vehicles backing upwith gentler, less piercing white noise broadband alarms.

"The solution already exists, it's been existing for 10 years. It's called the BBS, it costs [next] to nothing. For a few hundred dollars you can change the alarm in question and it would be problem solved," he said.

Monfroysaid he's yet to hear from officials.

CBC contacted Quebec's Transport Ministry, the borough of RosemontLa Petite-Patrie and the city of Montreal, butall three refused to comment on the situation.

The STM also denied a request for interviewbut saidthe noise last week before 7 a.m. didn't come fromits construction site. It also said it is impossible to change the back-up alarms on the trucks at the site as the agency is dealing with too many contractors.

The new bus garage is slated to be complete by fall of 2023. Monfroy said his next step is to find a way tosit downwith elected officials to ensure quieter living for residentsfor the remainder of this project and those to come.

"I will push this as far as I can on my own if I have to," he said.

A weary Lescarbeau said she and her partner doubt the situation will improve anytime soon, so they'll continue hunting for a new place to live.