Eglinton Crosstown LRT drilling noise due to 'hard ground,' Metrolinx says

Caroline Maunder's baby is due in a matter of hours, but it's not labour pain she's worried about right now it's the headaches she's been getting fromnearby construction.

"The worst you hear it is at nighttime,"said Maunder. Shelives in a basement suite near the corner of EglintonAvenueand Avenue Road, where crews are now boring tunnels for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, 24 hours a day.

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"Everything's shaking ... the cupboard's shaking, the glass is shaking," she said of the nearlyconstant dull pounding from the tunnelling that rattles the plates in her kitchen, and has her toddler asking who's banging on the door at night.

Maunder and her husband are upset they received no warning. And they're surprisedthe work and the noise areallowed to continue straightthrough the night.

"I don't know who made the decision, but it wasn't smart. They clearly don't have kids or don't live anywhere near the noise," she said. "I have to go through labour ... and I'm coming with a newbornbackto this noise for an indefinite amount of time. It's quite daunting."

A spokesperson for Metrolinx saidabout a dozen people in that neighbourhood over the last two weeks told the company they'reworriedabout the noise.

Anne Marie Aikins said these arethe firstnoise complaints in a year since Metrolinxstarted digging from Black Creek Drivetowards Yonge Street. And she thinks it's because the ground near Avenue Roadis more compact and noisier.

"It is a harder soil to get through, and it's probably because it's an older neighbourhood," she said. "It does cause more vibrations."

The areas drilled so farhave been softer (and quieter) sand. Crews don't know what kind of soil they'll drill into ahead of time.Aikinssaidthey didn't warn residents in this areabecause they didn't knowit would be so loud.

"I do appreciate that this is disruptive and it's difficult to live with while the construction is going on. But a little bit of patience and this will be done soon," she said.

The 19-kilometre transit line is expected to be completed by 2020.

Metrolinx estimates that allowingbreaks at night would extend the noisy construction for another two years.