Residents in a Queen West neighbourhood say that they are being kept up at all hours by the sounds of “screeching” streetcars that are being diverted from their usual route due to construction.
As of Jan. 3, the TTC has been directing all of its westbound 501 streetcars to turn around using a loop on McCaul Street due to a major construction project at the intersection of King, Queen and Roncesvalles in the city’s west end.
The TTC says that the change has been necessary in order to allow them to preserve as much streetcar service as possible but it has infuriated some residents in nearby condominium and apartment buildings, who say they are now being inundated with the screeching sounds of turning streetcars.
“In our home it (the noise) goes straight through our windows, we can’t open our windows and when we sleep we have to wear ear plugs and we still hear it,” one man named William, who lives in a nearby building, told CP24 on Friday morning. “So we can’t get any quality sleep not to mention the fact that we are working from because if this pandemic and it is interfering with all the meetings we have during the day and the deadline.”
For its part, the TTC says that it is aware that there is a problem and is working hard to mitigate it.
The TTC, however, says that the streetcars will have to continue using the McCaul Loop to turn around for up to a year, which is the expected completion date for the construction.
“We have been in there already to have a look and a listen and it definitely is bad so we are going to go in there twice a day and do lubricating,” spokesperson Stuart Green told CP24 on Friday morning. “We also have some engineering work that we are going to do to mitigate that noise and we are going to continue to notify the community of the steps we are taking. Ultimately this loop has been there many, many years and it predates a lot of the condominiums in the area but we do have to be mindful that there are people in that area.”
Another resident who spoke with CP24 on Friday, Jaclyn, described the noise made by the streetcars as an “insane screeching” sound and said that it is often occurring every few minutes during peak hours.
She said that she also works at home and is increasing finding that the situation is affecting her work.
“I can’t have my meetings properly, I need to make sure I am always on mute and I can only talk at certain times when the screeching isn’t happening. And then at night I don’t get to sleep. It is horrible really.”
Green said part of the problem likely stems from how infrequently the McCaul Loop has been used in recent years, mostly just for emergencies.
He said that while “there will never be zero noise,” TTC staff are confident that they can reduce the screeching to a more acceptable level.
“The good news is that some of the new streetcars have damping rings that are being installed on the wheels so that will negate noise and some of them have lubrication devices right in them so they can lubricate as they go through. We will look at all of those options in order to mitigate the noise,” he said.
