Leen Taher has gotten used to the deep vibrations that shake her desk, the unrelenting screeching of construction trucks and the pervasive dust that floats through her apartment.聽
Her home, as a place she has lived in for three years and would nestle into for peace and rest, “is not something I have anymore,” she said.
Two pits several metres deep have been dug at Queen Street and Spadina Avenue on the site of a subway station for the future聽Ontario Line. Taher and other residents abutting one of the pits have suffered through sleepless nights, vibration and noise throughout the day and 鈥 in one case 鈥 evocations of a war zone, all due to what they describe as relentless construction.
Construction at the northeastern pit goes on for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while the pit beside Taher鈥檚 building has construction 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends, Metrolinx confirmed.
Video taken by Taher of construction noise.
鈥淲e want to assure residents that we work continuously with our contractors to monitor noise levels and implement mitigations based on community feedback,鈥 said Metrolinx spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks.
Ernesaks said road headers (a type of tunnelling machine) are being used at the Queen-Spadina station site to excavate with less noise and vibration. However, Ernesaks did not explain why the location did not have an acoustic shelter 鈥 a structure built on top of the construction to reduce noise and dust 鈥 that is being used at other points along the Ontario Line construction.
The 15.6-kilometre Ontario Line subway will cut its way through the heart of downtown, from Exhibition in the southwest to the Don Valley in northeast. It’s been heralded as the “crown jewel” in the provincial government’s $28.5-billion transit plans 鈥 a long-awaited relief line that will take the pressure off an increasingly crowded Line 1 and is expected to carry up to 440,000 people per day.
As construction has made its way through the city, it has generated complaints from residents about construction, safety听补苍诲 expropriations.
Metrolinx’s rendering of the Ontario Line’s Queen-Spadina Station.
MetrolinxOne condo owner, Nada Chahine, whose balcony sits more than 40 storeys above the southern pit at Queen and Spadina, said the dust is the least of her concerns, as she struggles daily with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by the constant sounds of heavy machinery echoing inside her home.
Chahine, a survivor of war in Lebanon, said the machinery Metrolinx is using to dig sounds 鈥渧ery similar to war noises,” which she finds 鈥渧ery triggering and really painful to go through.鈥
鈥淚 don’t know where to hide, because I can hear it in every room in my condo: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen,鈥 she said, 鈥淚t’s very loud and you feel the whole building sometimes shaking.鈥
Chahine said she understands that this construction is ultimately something good for Toronto, but when the alarms of large construction trucks wake her at two in the morning, it 鈥渇eels inhumane.鈥
For the construction on the Ontario Line 鈥 like other municipal, provincial and federal construction projects in the city 鈥 , meaning work can go on later into the night and early in the morning on weekends.
“I share concerns of community members around disruption, particularly related to increased noise and extended hours as part of the Ontario Line construction,” said Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik, the local councillor for Taher and Chahine’s building, in a statement. “My team and I continue to push for stronger community engagement, including direct meetings with construction liaison committees.”聽
Tamer El-Diraby, a professor in the University of Toronto鈥檚 department of civil and mineral engineering, said that noise and dust are inevitable with any construction project. But he suggested 鈥渁 three-way committee with representatives from the community, the city and the construction companies鈥 to lay out concerns and make plans 鈥渢o reduce the impact” of the construction is one possible long-term solution for the community.
For example, timing the hours of construction properly: 鈥淣o noise production at midnight, trying to not have a noise everyday, and combining tasks that are known to be noisy to happen one after another, midday,鈥 said El-Diraby. This way, the community would have, 鈥渁 horrible week every year instead of 10 different horrible days.鈥
Chahine, who purchased her condo as an investment property in 2016, said it was never meant to be her forever home, and hoped to rent it out 鈥 something she is now struggling to do.
鈥淚n the past couple months 鈥 my real estate agent viewed (the condo) to a few people and no one wants to rent,鈥 in part, she said, because people don鈥檛 want to have to deal with the vibrations, sounds and debris.
Taher also feels trapped. “We have to move,” she said, because of the noise and dust. But, she added, “if I move, the rent is going to be double or triple the price.”
She’s been left sleepless at night, alert to every noise outside her window, even when construction is over 鈥 a habit that’s developed since the work has started.
Taher has organized her neighbours, like Chahine,聽into a group chat to pull together all their complaints to Metrolinx. They all have struggled with the clang of construction early in the morning and deep into the evenings 鈥 the group includes a mother with a newborn and a shift worker who struggles to sleep during the day after a long night’s work.
She’s tried calling Metrolinx repeatedly, to complain about the noise and dust, but she feels she always has to chase after them.聽
“I keep calling them,” Taher said, exasperated. “They don’t send followups. 鈥 I have to keep following up with them, and when I do (hear back), they don’t have an actual status as to what they are doing to mitigate (the noise and dust).”
Taher said she’s gotten an air purifier for the dust, but only after several calls complaining to Metrolinx. Others, she worries, might not know or have the time to complain.聽
Ernesaks said Metrolinx “where possible” is attempting to schedule noisier construction during the day, using less disruptive equipment and “providing custom solutions for residents.”
Ernesaks did not say for how much longer construction work will be going on at Queen and Spadina. Officially, the Ontario Line is expected to open in 2032, but has already faced delays.
People just want to feel comfortable in their own home, able to sit and watch a movie, said Chahine, 鈥渢o listen to music 鈥 or to silence, for God鈥檚 sake.鈥
Correction - April 10, 2025
This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled the given name of Tamer El-Diraby, a professor in the University of Toronto’s department of civil & mineral engineering.
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