BAD VIBES: Richmond Road condo residents fear nearby LRT will cause noise, vibration
“We might not have bought here if we had known the LRT would be in our front yard. Nobody knew how bad this was going to be.”
Author of the article:Andrew Duffy
Publishing date:Sep 02, 2022
OTTAWA — Residents of a condominium building at 1190 Richmond Road are concerned about the noise made by the Stage 2 LRT that is very close to their building. Thursday, Sep. 1, 2022. PHOTO BY ERROL MCGIHON /Postmedia Residents of a Richmond Road condominium say they’re worried the new Confederation Line West LRT will pass so close to their building as to make their lives miserable.
Tracks for the new LRT line, now under construction, will pass within two metres of the condominium’s underground parking garage at 1190 Richmond Road, near the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. The city expropriated the north-west corner of the condo property as part of the LRT project.
Trains will enter and exit a curving underground trench in the shadow of the eight-storey building, and residents are worried the resultant noise and vibrations will be unbearable.
“Since the trains have to negotiate a sharp curve and accelerate up an incline, we will be experiencing ‘wheel squeal’ in addition to the normal noise of the trains with every pass,” said Katherine Addleman, president of the condominium’s board of directors.
Addleman said 624 trains are expected to bypass the condo on weekdays between 5 a.m. and 2 a.m. when the LRT is in full operation.
A city noise study has concluded the trains will generate about 70 decibels of noise under optimal conditions — a level considered acceptable under provincial noise guidelines.
But Addleman said the city’s experience with the problem-plagued Confederation Line suggests optimal conditions will be hard to maintain. It’s more likely, she said, the LRT’s performance will be subpar with noise levels in the 80-90 decibel range with each passing train.
“It will be a health hazard,” she said.
Bonnie Kettel’s seventh floor condominium overlooks the future LRT. Her bedroom and living room have windows that open onto the rain line. “Urban transit is really important,” she said, “but they have to make it so that people can live next to it in a reasonable, comfortable way.”
The 30-unit condominium on Richmond Road was built in the late 1970s and once faced a stand of mature trees on National Capital Commission land. Those trees were cut down to accommodate the new LRT line.
“I bought here in 2018, and this was all forest,” condo resident Huston Eubank said. “We might not have bought here if we had known the LRT would be in our front yard. Nobody knew how bad this was going to be.”
The existing Confederation Line has already faced noise complaints.
In a review of the Stage 1 Confederation Line, the engineering firm Mott MacDonald found that “noise and vibration peaks” were associated with tight turns on the line. Those sections of rail were marked by corrugation — scoring caused by friction between wheels and rail — that increased noise levels beyond acceptable limits, the report said.
On the worst section of track between Hurdman and Lees stations, the noise has reached 91 decibels, the report found.
Addleman said the western extension of the Confederation Line will curve in front of the Richmond Road condo in much the same way it curves between Hurdman and Lees. “Ninety-one decibels is like having a leaf blower in your bedroom,” she said. “I just don’t think our building will be livable if we have noise like they do at Hurdman.”
The condo board has asked the city to use the best available technology to mitigate potential problems, including a floating track slab that reduces vibration and noise, and sound absorbent walls in the LRT trench.
But the city has so far opted for more modest measures: a three-metre noise wall similar to those that line urban highways, and rail fasteners that can be affixed beneath the track. The city will also be planting new trees to further attenuate the noise.
Michael Morgan, director of the rail construction program, said the city is committed to working with the condo residents. “The project team has been and continues to be actively engaged with the residents of 1190 Richmond Road and the broader community to help mitigate their concerns regarding construction and future light rail operations,” he said Thursday.
The LRT’s tracks will be subject to an inspection and maintenance program to address the kind of corrugation, he added, that can make trains noisier.
A third-party consultant and the project team concluded that a floating slab system is not required near the Richmond Road property since the rail fasteners will isolate the tracks and absorb some of their energy. The fasteners, a kind of baseplate, are expected to reduce vibration and noise levels to below the noise guidelines set by the United States Federal Transit Administration, Morgan said.
Addleman said the noise wall is unsightly and will only dampen sound for people living on the lower floors of the 30-unit condominium.
An April 2022 study conducted by the city found the new LRT will cause less than 80 decibels of noise at 1190 Richmond Road — slightly louder than the sound of a passing bus. It will also be less noisy, the study said, than what’s currently being experienced by those living at 215 Parkdale Avenue.
People living in the 14-floor Parkdale Avenue condo, on the northern edge of the Confederation Line near Tunney’s Pasture, have complained that passing trains sound like fighter jets.
According to a Government of Ontario website, city traffic (70 decibels) and a noisy restaurant (80 decibels) are considered loud noises, while very loud sounds include things such as lawn mowers (90 decibels) and chainsaws (100 decibels).
Exposure to excessive noise can cause sleep disturbances, cardiovascular problems and depression among other things, according to the World Health Organization.
The Confederation Line West project is expected to be finished in 2026; it will add 15 kilometres of rail and 11 rapid transit stations to the LRT system.
2022-09-02 Richmond Road condo residents fear nearby LRT will cause noise, vibration
2022-09-02 Richmond Road condo residents fear nearby LRT will cause noise, vibration
Link to Ottawa Sun article