False Creek residents file complaint against TransLink over SkyTrain noise

A group of False Creek residents have filed a complaint to TransLink over excessive noise from the nearby SkyTrain tracks.

Saying the noise keeps them up at night and makes it so loud that they can’t hear their TVs, the residents approached TransLink during a public board meeting Friday.

Paul Altilia, one of the residents, says the loud noises reach as high as 95 decibels inside his apartment and goes on for up to 21 hours a day. It wasn’t that way when he moved there in 2004.

“We didn’t really think it would be an issue, and it wasn’t, but that has changed, and that’s our point. It’s our view as owners that over the years the track has deteriorated, or the wheels, or the equipment itself like the trains, that is causing this heavy ‘click-click’. It’s thunderous,” Altilia said.

“We can’t watch television with the door open. In the summer, we’re kept behind closed doors.”

Altilia is part of a community called City Gate which includes 13 condominium buildings and 4,000 residents. By working with the False Creek Residents’ Association, he was able to get results by bringing his complaint to TransLink.

“We were grateful because Vivienne King, the president and CEO of the B.C. Rapid Transit Company, immediately scheduled a meeting for us with Richard Sykes and Michael Richards, who are VPs of operations and maintenance,” Altilia said.

He added that they will now communicate to establish a process of action so he can report back to the thousands of families affected by the noise.

“The misconception was that no one cares and no one was doing anything about it.”

TransLink did not commit to fix the problem on Friday, but Altilia is encouraged by the company’s forthcoming response.

The company says it is already targeting noise problems by replacing old track switches and grinding tracks, but will continue to communicate with this particular community over the progress of their complaint.