Some residents in St. Henri say they are fed up with around-the-clock construction that is causing noise, dust, traffic and many sleepless nights for those who live close to the Turcot interchange worksite.

St. Henri resident Yves Lavoie said work happening 24/7 brings many loud trucks onto St. Jacques St. – there is an average of one every two minutes, some measuring 10 to 20 decibels above normal.

“They say it’s open 24 hours a day for our good so it won’t last too long,” said Lavoie. “It’s going to end in 2020. It’s still not tomorrow… I just retired so I'm here 24 hours a day, so I cannot escape.”

“Mainly the dust is problematic here,” added St. Henri resident Fiona Ham. “The trucks come by really quickly here and it brings a lot of the dust up. People come by with the machine to clean the streets but they don’t clean the sidewalks so the dust just remains.”

Some residents met with Liberal MNA Dominique Anglade over the weekend and said they’ve also reported the problems to the Ministry of Transport.  

“She showed some empathy and said she would talk with Transport Quebec to try to mitigate the problems,” said Lavoie.

Transport Quebec said it has taken measures like erecting sound barriers and monitoring sound and dust, and will increase surveillance of the trucks.

“From the beginning, the ministry took several measures in order to minimize the impact and inconveniences on the residences,” said Nomba Danielle spokesperson of Transport Quebec.

Derek Robertson, a resident who sits on the Turcot Neighbourhood Committee, said it's become obvious that whatever mitigation measures are in place aren’t enough and he feels this may becoming a public health issue.

“People are complaining about difficulties breathing, asthma attacks, respiratory illness and not getting any answers,” he said.

David McLean and his family also live on St. Jacques and he can taste the dust in the air. She said he now has to bring his kids to other areas to play outdoors.

“I find myself maybe having to do ten blocks to find a cleaner park where dust isn’t blowing all the time,” he said.