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RESIDENTS OF NORTH inner city Dublin have raised concerns over works on the Luas Cross City going on late into the night and disrupting their sleep.
Construction on the Luas Cross City has been ongoing in Dublin since early 2013, and is due to be completed and running by the end of this year.
Once completed, the tram service will link the north and south of Dublin: from Stephen’s Green to Broombridge in Cabra.
The laying of the tracks is a huge infrastructure project, and much of Dublin’s inner city is currently a construction site. Traffic is down to one line in some areas and roads and footpaths are closed off.
Testing is to start on the track next month, with the first passengers on the service expected by the end of the month.
As the construction nears its completion, inner city residents and businesses are becoming more frustrated with the works.
Businesses on Parnell Street and Moore Street on the north side of the city say that the works have severely affected their business, and that they would be taking legal action for losses incurred as a result.
Residents around Dublin city have also expressed annoyance with the construction, which can continue late into the night in many instances.
Twitter user @ExecutiveSteve – who lives in the Parnell Street area – said that loud construction works were going on “every other night” in the area.
Foster & Allende. / TwitterParnell Street at 1.30am on a Monday as heard from my balcony. My apartment is shaking. This has been going on for weeks. pic.twitter.com/Z7RKlors7K
— NeverEnding Stóirín. (@EXECUTIVESTEVE) May 16, 2017
“They have twice hung notices on our door warning of overnight works, but in practice they’re out there every other night,” he told TheJournal.ie.
He said that it was clear the works were nearing completion, but that the noise was hard to handle.
If I had kids or shift work or anything like that (like many in my building do) I’d be tearing my hair out.
‘No rest’
Jose Maria Alba – originally from Spain but living in Ireland for the past two years – lives nearby and said late night works have been upsetting his sleep for months.
Alba lives around Granby Place, where he said trucks involved in the construction of tracks can work through the night.
“The problem is not directly with the construction, it is with the trucks parking which is in front of our balcony,” said Alba.
They are making noise either at 6am, 2am 12pm… something that makes impossible it to have rest!
Alba has posted a number of videos of the vehicles to Twitter.
Jose Maria Alba / Twitter@LuasCrossCity 5 in the morning and you are doing this #noise as usual. @DubCityCouncil help?! #stopnoise #illegal #righttorest pic.twitter.com/jvcyh24s34
— Jose Maria (@jmalbale) May 11, 2017
Luas Cross City got in touch with him as result, but Alba said the late-night work still continued.
“A person from Luas Cross City has contacted me each time but never gave me a real solution,” he said.
In an email to Dublin City Council in April – seen by TheJounal.ie - Alba requested their intervention.
“Please, help me. I really don’t know what to do. I am desperate,” he said.
Response
Residents on the north side are not alone in being affected with the Luas works.
Last month, Trinity News reported that the provost of Trinity College Dublin Patrick Prendergast had moved out of his home on 1 Grafton Street as a result of the construction.
A spokesperson for the college told the Trinity News:
Due to noise levels caused by the Luas works the Provost on occasion stays in campus accommodation.
Students studying at Trinity had complained about the noise of the construction upsetting their studies. Those living in on-campus accommodation had been particularly affected.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie this week, president of the Trinity Student Union Kieran McNulty said that students living on campus had been disrupted by the Luas works, but that the situation had improved in recent times.
“Any disruption to exams was quelled mostly,” said McNulty.
In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, a spokesperson for Transport Infrastructure Ireland – which is overseeing the works – said that some complaints had been received as a result of the Luas construction.
“Luas Cross City has received a small number of complaints from night-time works,” the spokesperson said.
These complaints are dealt with by the contractor and the Luas Cross City Communications team as a matter of urgency.
According to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) included in the planning for Luas Cross City, in general the working hours for the construction are 8am to 6pm Monday-Friday and 9am to 4pm Saturday.
However, it was anticipated within the EIS that some work would need to take place outside of these hours. Construction contractors have to apply for approval from DCC to carry out these type of works.
DCC Air Quality Monitoring and Noise Control Unit then review the application decide whether to accept the out of hours works, with or without conditions, or reject it.
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Pardon my ignorancr, but is living in the city centre normally something you do for a quiet life?
Yes but this is now taking the piss, the clown workers are taking far too long to lay a tram track
@John O Connor: It must be difficult to work fast in a baggy trousers and wig, in fairness.
Itll be of benefit to the local residents when its running, personally I wouldn’t be in a rush to complain.
@Ben Coughlan: I’m sure those working on it feel the same, with some of the stories about it!
@Ben Coughlan: Not 1 Cent to the banks. Chancer Leo Varadkar 2011:
Just short term breaking of eggs to make a beneficial long term omelette
@Conor Flood: Absolutely agree. I lived in Clongriffin right next to where the dart station was been built and every night the trucks and jack hammers kept me awake. But its worth it in the end. Small pain, big gain.
It was the same in Waterford with the Greenway , the construction included underpasses on the waterford to Cork national route oh! its going to destroy our land, our businesses and going to bring antisocial behavior to rural town. Now its fantastic those who complained most making buckets of money from it , whiny little itches
I love how its all of a sudden an issue and not for the last 3 years!
@Paul: Oh you’d prefer they started complaining on the first day ? Ongoing for years – the cheek of them to complain now. Should have hired a crew of Japanese workers and it would have been done in a couple of weeks.
We live on Parnell Street and it is ridiculous. Made complaints but no way of stopping night works even though they go on every day and every night!! For working professionals and young families it is very frustrating. It has been going on too long. Anyone with young children or toddlers I imagine must be having a terrible time. Obviously want it completed asap but can totally understand the business’ frustration. Traffic & double parking along with coaches dropping tourists off at Jury’s hotel doesnt help things. The end is near hopefully
@Edel O’Connor: sorry but isn’t that expected when you live in the city and near a hotel ?
@Jayo Breathneach: Very unsympathetic view point. Not everyone has complete freedom to move home at a whim. It’s not unreasonable to expect that in each 24hr period, there will be a few hours of that a person can get some sleep in a zoned residential area and not have 3 crews of Kangos in shift rotation outside your windows. Sleep deprivation isn’t funny. Even night shift workers get sleep in the daytime.
@Jayo Breathneach: noise – yes – maybe people singing outside a pub maybe the occasional illegal car horn, traffic noise and the like – but from the noise type in the video serious building work and what sounds like drilling should not be allowed outside anyone’s home, yours, mine or Edel’s in the middle of the night.
Shut up you clown
God help them, all the real issues in our country and they whine about essential works to better our transport system.
The bigger picture needs to be seen, nobody died, build a bridge!
@Gavin Mckenna: You’re just the type of person who would be the first to complain if it was beside their house. And you would have done it on day 1 not years later. “build a bridge” – the go to card for those too stupid to have empathy.
@Pablo: Do the lads doing the building works down tools so people can have a nap or not be disturbed?
Sure we may have the cross-luas by 2027 if thats the case.
They are being done at late hours for a valid reason.
@Conor Flood: also if you live on parnel street you can’t exactly complain about it not being a tranquil oasis. It’s the city centre, horns, drunks sirens all night long. It’s like residents around croke park complaining about croke park. Buy earplugs
For people who do not know there are many quiet residential areas within the north inner city in Dublin – some very close the Luas works – before commenting on stereo-typing the people or the area I would suggest people go walk around and live there, then they might realise people are at least deserving of sympathy for the serious noise nuisance created by these works – and hope that is never happens to you where you live.
We had our road dug up some years ago and the foundations re-laid – somewhat similar to the Luas works but there was not a noise issue at night as the work was done by day (even if the road was closed for a period) – I cannot understand why there is not a noise curfew – or is it that they are afraid to close the roads in the daytime allowing big business to win over the people who actually live within earshot?
Wait till it starts running then the noise starts
@Marie Okeeffe: my Dublin apartment is next to the Red line and its not noisy.
@Paul: Glad you pointed out it was a Dublin apartment.
@Paul: Give it another fifteen years. Older light rail systems tend to become extremely noisy, with loud screeching of the tram along the tracks.
@Free comment ratings: There’s also a red line in Boston.
If this was being carried out in Japan it would have been done 2 years ago. They are moving very slow…
The construction company should be fined and excluded from future public contracts like in other cities and countries
@Niall O D: Jesus wept !! Get out for a drink , go for a walk or something . Pathetic comment
Well if they don’t like it go and live in the middle of the countryside. Living in the heart of any city comes with noise. So put up and shut up or jog on. Ireland has to move on and nothing will stop us.
Did the person taking the video consider closing the window!!!!??? :()
@selfsustainable: closing the window doesn’t work because the vibration and noise travels through the walls. You should try getting some sleep somewhere there’s a JCB jack hammer in use some time. It’s loads of fun. If the noise doesn’t prevent you from sleeping the eradicate vibrations will.
@Niall O D: I lived in the “North Inner City Dublin” when I married first and I worked shift work and my partner worked as a nurse to pay our mortgage – your stereo typing is not becoming of someone with the same first name as me – there are many hard working folk living in the “North Inner City Dublin” – people just like you and me and would would be upset at least if that noise was permeating throughout their home when trying to rest after a hard days work.
Sounds like a big Genny.
Earplugs?
Might help if they had more than 2 men working at a time. It’s a joke that it takes years to lay 2km of track.
The City looks like one big construction site at the moment, Im a little fed up myself with the delays trying to get out of town after work everyday, It just seems this has been going on for years and years!!
Does anyone know the stats to put a metro in Dublin it badly needs it I’d be very interested to know why we don’t have one or how to get one, thanks
@mmmcl186: The ground teminals were sold. Temple bar was supposed to be the main hub. All the old CIE buildings they sold were going to be the stations but the land was eaten by a tiger,
My aunt used to rent a house in East London which sat directly over the underground, her pain was continuous, yours is short lived.
Sleepers for all
this white elephant Luas they should be working 24/7 to finish this outside the abbey theatre they put down a new path its all dug up again, maybe the clowns who work on the streets ie ESB, Dublin City Council, Board Gas, Water Works, all these groups should to Japan and see how its done, a Large Creater appeared in a city centre they repaired it within a week, the problem is to many tea breaks and leaning on shovels, and the contractors trying to make as much money as possible, but wait this work will be all dug up again because of owen keegen and his cycle tracks!!
We should have been building these railway lines under-ground. There is very limited, surface-level thoroughfare space in Dublin City and building the Luas lines over-ground was always going to lead to a big squeeze. When we build more railway lines in Dublin (after these current Luas ones are completed), I sincerely hope that it will be done in an underground Metro style; instead of turning the city centre once again into a very visible and impeding construction site and taking up more valuable road space and severely disrupting businesses.
Greatest load of bollocks this cross city idea, taking longer than the whole Luas project
Funny, I suspect same clowns won’t be complaining when proximity to the Luas line gives their property values a big lift….
Want the benefits, but none of the hassle….
Sorry but it’s the price of living in the hearth of the city…
Joke is they probably pay more for their apartments then people with similar apartments in quieter areas of city
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