For more than three years, Zoe Brashaw has had to live with the noise of heavy vehicle backup alarms that sound all day, sometimes even before 7 a.m.
Posted at 12:00 a.m.
This 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 level of decibels caused by these alarms, denounces Mme Brashaw. It lasts 12 hours a day, five or six days a week. I’m freaking out, it’s impossible to concentrate on anything. It ruins people’s lives! »
Despite the closed windows, you can distinctly hear the “beep-beep-beep” of the back-up tonal alarms when you are inside your apartment.
During meetings organized by the STM with the citizens of the sector, several residents complained about this situation, which poisons their daily lives.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Hugues Montfroy lives near the site of the future STM garage.
“It doesn’t make sense for a construction site that is close to such a densely populated neighborhood,” protests Hugues Montfroy, a former local resident who moved, in part because of the inconvenience caused by the construction site. .
However, Mr. Montfroy is continuing to approach the STM and other authorities to obtain changes. He even contacted lawyers because he wants to take collective action, along with about twenty other citizens.
Cricket sound
What shocks these citizens is that there is now an alternative to tonal back-up alarms: the less intrusive, broadband alarms that emit a cricket-like, ” pschitt pschitt”.
Many municipal vehicles are now equipped with broadband alarms in Montreal.
Why didn’t the STM require such alarms for trucks and heavy machinery on its worksite?
“We have more than 70 subcontractors, in addition to the suppliers of the subcontractors. In this context, it is impossible to impose conditions concerning back-up alarms on all trucks, ”answers the spokesperson for the organization, Amélie Régis, in an emailed response.
“Many options have been evaluated to limit back-up alarms. However, most of these options were unviable and risked having other impacts. »
We regularly remind the contractor to do everything possible to limit noise impacts. Obviously, we cannot neglect safety on the construction site, hence the importance of alarms.
Amélie Régis, spokesperson for the STM, in an email
As for the noises that resonate before 7:00 a.m., Ms.me Régis affirms 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 construction site before 7 a.m.”, it says on its website.
However, according to the spokesperson, noises that were heard last week before 7 a.m. in the area did not come from the STM construction site.