By Joanne Miltenburg
Residents of Somerset Street West say they are tired of being awakened by the noise of construction equipment, sometimes before 7 a.m., in violation of the city’s noise bylaws.
Isabelle Arcand, who lives on Somerset Street, said she is an early riser, but the crews are already at work when she gets up at 6:30 a.m.
“They’re out there getting ready, starting their equipment at 6:15, 6:30,” she said.
Ottawa’s noise bylaws prohibit operating construction equipment between 10 p.m. and seven a.m.
Arcand said the construction noise was worst when crews had to dig up a section of the pavement along the street.
“I thought we were being bombed,” she said. “It was so loud for two days straight.”
Paul LeMarquand, a student who lives on Somerset Street, said the noise from the heavy equipment is “pretty bad.”
‘I’ve never heard of a construction project that made this much noise,” he said. “At the start, there was a lot of sawing through concrete … and then the beep, beep, beep of trucks backing up.”
Somerset Street has been converted to one-way while the construction is in progress and pedestrians are now walking in the street to dodge equipment and construction pylons.
Marie Thomas, who works at Gabriel Pizza on the corner of Bank and Somerset Streets, said the construction has slowed business at the restaurant.
“You can’t sit outside, it’s really bad,” she said.
“We’ve been through this three months now, the banging and noise,” added her co-worker, Suzanne Drapeau.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes said she has received no formal complaints about the noise, but acknowledged the inconvenience to residents.
“Any street reconstruction is unpleasant to live through, but it has to be done,” said Holmes.
The section of Somerset Street West between Kent and Metcalfe Streets has been under construction since the long weekend in May. The water and sewer systems are being upgraded and the streetscape is being reconstructed.
Project manager Richard Holden said the work is nearly complete, except for the block between Bank and O’Connor Streets. Restaurants along that block requested the construction be delayed until the end of August, so diners could sit on their patios during the summer.
Holden said the Somerset Village Business Improvement Association was consulted on the design of the new streetscape, which includes new brickwork and lighting.
The old sidewalks were narrow and sloping, and the bricks inlaid in the sidewalks had lifted because of frost heave.
Holden said the sidewalks have been widened and leveled, and the new bricks will be laid over concrete rather than gravel.
“We’re expecting to be finished everything by Thanksgiving,” Holden said.