Crickets and the gentle rustling of wind-blown corn.
That’s what Sue Shackleton was used to hearing as she lounged in her sunny backyard on Langlaw Drive.
But this summer was different in the city’s southernmost neighbourhood.
For the last few years, she’d gotten used to the rumble of construction trucks working to complete McQueen Shaver Boulevard in the distance. She and her neighbours had mostly forgotten about the summer of 2019, when a dust storm stirred up from construction on Cambridge’s south boundary road, settled over their neighbourhood, coating pools, cars and backyards with a layer of dirt.
Shackleton was confident the Region of Waterloo had done its homework since then and was resigned to the idea of living in close proximity to a busy road.
But everything changed when the eastbound lanes of the road connecting Highway 24 to Franklin Boulevard was opened for five weeks in late July to accommodate a detour for construction of the roundabout.
The noise was constant and unbearable, she says.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is a highway,” Shackleton says, adding one of her biggest concerns apart from noise is the vehicle emissions she says get trapped in her backyard.
Shackleton is now leading a petition calling on the region to find a solution.
So far she and her neighbours haven’t been able to get adequate answers from the region.
The region’s message to residents is that the noise study completed as part of its environmental assessment is sound, and staff “appreciate the fact that residents have gone from a farm field behind them to a new roadway.”
CambridgeToday reached out several times for a response from the region but has yet to receive one.
As Shackleton and others wait for their own answers, she is paying for an independent noise study out of her own pocket.
For now, McQueen Shaver Boulevard remains a quiet, lonely, four-lane stretch of newly paved asphalt.
Senior engineer for the Region of Waterloo Andrew Doman says delayed provincial approvals and supply chain issues have stalled the opening of the south boundary road designed to divert truck and commuter traffic out of downtown Galt.
That’s just as well for Jeff McKeown whose home backs onto the new road where it rises several metres above his backyard, providing a direct route for noise from passing vehicles.
“They’ve destroyed our neighbourhood,” says McKeown, who learned Friday the road could open next week.
When they were building the boulevard, he says he questioned the road’s height in relation to his home since the region’s noise study states the elevation is supposed to be level with his backyard.
McKeown believes the region made several fundamental errors in predicting noise levels along the road because of its topography. He points to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s method for predicting traffic noise levels.
According to Ontario Road Noise Analysis Method for Environment and Transportation (ORNAMENT) guidelines, it’s not supposed to be used to predict traffic noise levels in areas with complex topography, which McKeown says McQueen Shaver Boulevard clearly is.
Other details the region calls “minor irregularities” include distances between the homes and the centre of the nearest lane, which in McKeown’s case is listed as 51 metres in the study, but only 42 metres in reality.
The region’s 2011 noise study also would have expired well before shovels hit the ground according to the region’s own framework.
When the road opened in late July, he says he had no idea how bad the noise would be.
“I thought, holy crap this is unbearable,” he says.
Readings on a decibel meter he held up on his back deck were hitting 76-80 dBA.
For comparison, the provincial noise scale considers sounds like "city traffic" at 70 dBA, and a "noisy restaurant" at 80 dBA, to be "loud noises."
Shackleton said readings from her backyard were just as bad.
“Anything 61 or greater needs sound attenuation,” says Michelle Noble, whose home is closer to the start of the road at Highway 24.
She and others don’t think the region would have gotten the approvals it needed to build the road without a noise barrier had it done its study properly.
According to the region , noise levels were estimated to be 59 dBA which is one decibel away from meeting the criteria for mitigation, she says.
“It’s a clear attempt to validate their study because they’ve spent millions on the road and a sound wall is millions more.”
“I’m a shift worker and you cannot sleep during the day,” Noble adds. “The noise is constant.”
In talking with the region, McKeown says he was told all properties that back onto McQueen Shaver will now have a noise warning attached to their deeds to prevent litigation from future owners.
Noise is just the start in a litany of concerns from neighbours who Shackleton says number close to 300 on her signed petition.
Those concerns include impacts from vehicle emissions, light pollution and the ability to properly enforce speeding along the 60 km/h stretch which is lacking curb cutouts on its entire length.
McKeown says he watched a police cruiser jump the curb to park on the median on the first weekend the road was open and says it appeared the officer had difficulty getting back onto the road to nab speeders.
Waterloo regional police charged five people with stunt driving the first weekend McQueen Shaver was open for the detour.
Asked how the region came up with its 60 km/h speed limit on the straightaway, project manager Andrew Doman responded in an email saying the region considered everything from lane widths and grading, to zone widths from the edge of the curb lane to hazards.
“Unlike rural roadways, McQueen Shaver Boulevard is an urbanized cross section with outside and raised median concrete curb and gutters,” he wrote. It helps mitigate speed by creating a “frictional” line that is supposed to deter drivers from speeding.
Doman said the region also plans to increase enforcement when the road is open, and will be monitoring its operation.
Concerns have also been raised about the LED lighting installed down the entire median.
McKeown said they were told it was only supposed to be used in hazardous areas and at intersections. He also learned it should be “shrouded” to mitigate light pollution for the nearby homes and wildlife.
The residents say they believe the region also vastly underestimated traffic volumes along McQueen Shaver; a problem they believe will only get worse as the City of Cambridge pressures the region and the province to make the road a heavy truck bypass.
Regional councillor Karl Kiefer said he heard zero complaints while the road was under construction, but has been working to get answers for the residents since learning about their concerns.
He connected them with the region’s commissioner of transportation and environmental services, Thomas Schmidt since he knew Schmidt would be the one to answer any technical questions related to the EA and final construction specs.
In an email to McKeown, Schmidt said he expects to table a report for councillors to consider on November 9, at which time members of the public can register to speak as a delegation.
Kiefer said Schmidt was also expected to meet with McKeown on Monday to explain what has been done to address their concerns and what can be done going forward.
“I’m hopeful we’ll come to some sort of resolution,” Kiefer said.
