A number of residents who live in the Queen West neighbourhood near McCaul Street are complaining that they can't sleep or work because of the "screeching" streetcars that are being diverted due to construction.
Since Jan. 3, the TTC has been directing all the westbound 501 streetcars to turn around the loop on McCaul Street because of a construction project at the corner of King, Queen and Roncesvalles.
The TTC told CP24 that the diversion is necessary to keep as much of the streetcar service as possible.
However, the move has angered alot of people who live in the nearby condos and apartment buildings. Many have been taking to Twitter to express their frustrations.
@TTChelps @cityoftoronto why is the ttc allowing 510 streetcars to wake up the entire neighborhood for the past hour and a half?! STOP THIS #McCaulLoop pic.twitter.com/bripp8ZFnZ
— Jjk89 (@Jjk894) May 8, 2020
The TTC has tried to solve the problem on a number of occassions, stating on Twitter that they were looking into the "lubricator for the loop" in hopes that it would minimize the loud noise of the streetcars passing through.
"We have been in there already to have a look and a listen and it definitely is bad so we are going to go in there twice a day and do lubricating," spokesperson Stuart Green told CP24 on Friday morning.
"We also have some engineering work that we are going to do to mitigate that noise and we are going to continue to notify the community of the steps we are taking. Ultimately this loop has been there many, many years and it predates a lot of the condominiums in the area but we do have to be mindful that there are people in that area."
However, the problem continues to persist despite repeated efforts to solve the issue.
How would you like to have sleepless nights indefinitely? Last streetcar at 1241am and then start up at 6am. That's at best 5 hours 19 min of sleep! And this is indefinite?? @Unrepentantfen5
— William Lam (@_WilliamLam) January 8, 2021
Green told CP24 that part of the problem has to do in part with how infrequently the McCaul Loop has been used in recent years.
He added that while "there will never be zero noise," they are confident they can reduce the amount of screeching noise.
"The good news is that some of the new streetcars have damping rings that are being installed on the wheels so that will negate noise and some of them have lubrication devices right in them so they can lubricate as they go through. We will look at all of those options in order to mitigate the noise," he said.
The TTC posted on Twitter that they've increased maitenance visits to twice a day to lubricate and clean the rails.
There is currently no end date for the diversion.
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