Metal plates rattle nerves
Steady flow of traffic through work area means constant noise
A constant thumping sound from traffic crossing over iron plates in the road is enough to drive people nuts.
There’s been a lot of digging going on lately on Burnhamthorpe Rd., west of Renforth Rd., with heavy equipment and workers for a utility contractor blocking parts of the curb lane.
The area beneath the street is filled with an array of communications wiring that can only be accessed by digging into the road, which may be necessary but is an inconvenience to drivers.
It is also annoying for people in apartments near Burnhamthorpe and Mill Rd., where iron plates covering a hole in the road make an aggravating thud every time a vehicle drives over them.
Helen Metelski emailed to say the noise made by the plates has been an audible presence in her home for at least a week.
“Road work by a crew left a metal plate (painted yellow) on the road, which is loose,” said Metelski.
“Every time a car drives over it, there is an annoying knocking sound that can be heard in my apartment,” she said, adding she’d be “most thankful” if the noise would stop.
We went there and found three large iron plates over holes in the road at the southwest corner of the intersection, one near the pedestrian crosswalk and two in the eastbound curb lane.
The plates in the curb lane made a thump-thump sound whenever a vehicle passed over them, which is constant, given the high volume of traffic on Burnhamthorpe. When a vehicle moving at the 60 km/h speed limit hit the plates, the thumping sound was much louder. With large apartment buildings on all four corners of the intersection, it is likely that Metelski is not the only one bothered by it. STATUS: Rick Helary, area manager of road operations for transportation services, emailed to say a utility cut examiner with the city has been asked to identify the utility that dug the holes and order it to re-seat the plates, which should quiet them down.