TORONTO -- Residents living on a small street in the heart of downtown Toronto say they have been plagued by an incredibly loud and squeaky TTC streetcar.

Since Sunday, residents say the noise has been non-stop. Streetcars are being diverted off of Queen Street and through the McCaul loop, located Grange Park, due to construction.

“It sounds like nails on a chalkboard, times like a thousand,” William Lam, a resident living on McCaul Street, told CTV News Toronto.

“It's high piercing. It just gets right through in the earplugs you're wearing while trying to sleep, into your meetings while you're trying to work,” Lam added. “I work at home … and for the people living above the actual tracks and the turnaround I don't know how they can actually deal with it.”

Residents say they’ve complained to the TTC about the noise and that it’s driving them up the wall.

“It sounds like a car crash that's about to come into your apartment,” resident Jaclyn Kuo said.

A TTC spokesperson told CTV News they are aware of the issue and are taking steps to address it.

“We're going to go in there twice a day and do lubricating,” Stuart Green said. We've got some engineering work that we're going to do to mitigate that noise and we're going to continue to notify the community of the steps that we're taking.”

The diversion is due to construction aroung King and Queen Streets, and residents say they are concerned the construction project could last up to a year, forcing them to consider alternatives.

“I'm honestly considering disobeying the lockdown and moving back to my parents place because I can't stay here and work,” Kuo said.