Mayor Tory is defending a decision to allow overnight work on the demolition of a Gardiner Expressway ramp despite numerous complaints from residents who said that the noise and vibrations from jackhammering kept them from sleeping.
Several residents who live in the area of Lower Simoce Street and the Gardiner Expressway contacted CP24 on Saturday morning to complain about overnight noise from the demotion of the ramp from the eastbound Gardiner to York, Bay and Yonge streets.
The work, which is exempted from the city’s noise by-law, is being undertyaken 24 hours a day this weekend as the city works to remove the portions of the ramp over Lower Simoce Street by 5 a.m. on Monday.
Ordinarily, work on the demolition of the ramp is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
“We tried to give as much notice as we could. I realize that that doesn’t make life better for the people who had to suffer through some of that noise but it is for a weekend. It may happen again in the context of work we just have to get done,” Tory told CP24 on Saturday morning. “I apologize to people who were inconvenienced in this manner but it is just the balance we have to strike between getting work done and making sure it isn’t too noisy.”
The city previously warned residents in the area to expect “loud and disruptive” work this weekend but those who contacted CP24 said that the noise levels were “completely unacceptable.”
“I've never heard something so loud and to hear it outside of my bedroom window. It's now 1:30 a.m. and I have to be up at 5 a.m. and have not slept,” one resident wrote.
"Do you have any idea how loud this is? This is truly unacceptable and no one living in this area is sleeping at all. How disrespectful to your residents of this city," another resident wrote.
Lower Simcoe Street is closed from Harbour Street to Queens Quay Boulevard due to the demolition.
