Francis Avenue Night Life Too Loud, Neighbors Say State Says City Code ‘Doesn’t Apply’ To Nighttime Paving Project

Tanja Skierka’s children are jolted awake in the middle of the night by the sound of heavy trucks rattling their windows. Beth Leaming complains about the stench and noise.

Chris and Linda Hugo watch in shock as water ripples across the top of their son’s aquarium at 2 a.m., caused by trucks rumbling outside their house.

For weeks, the state has been paving stretches of State Route 291 on Francis Avenue and Nine Mile Road late at night.

The nighttime paving is scheduled to continue next week between Ash and Division streets.

Ordinarily, such work would would violate a city ordinance prohibiting construction work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

A city code enforcement inspector measured the noise at more than 100 decibels after midnight a week ago. That’s loud enough to warrant hearing protection. The city’s nighttime noise standard is 45 decibels.

But state officials say they’re exempt from the city ordinance.

“We’ve looked at the city ordinance, and it doesn’t apply to the state,” said Al Gilson, a state Department of Transportation spokesman.

In general, exemptions are allowed for emergency vehicles and activities that benefit the health, safety and welfare of citizens.

“The safety aspect outweighs the noise issue,” said Gilson.

Fighting a fire or damming an overflowing river may be reasonable exceptions to the ordinance, but is street paving? Residents and city officials are wondering.

Jerry Lenzi, regional DOT administrator, said the department’s lawyers have been asked to look into it.

“It is not our intent to get into a finger-pointing argument with the city. They have been patient, and we hope they understand,” said Lenzi.

“Night paving hours were chosen for this project due to serious concerns about pedestrian safety and traffic congestion,” said Gilson.

Linda Hugo said the rumbling shook them awake at least three nights. The noise continued an hour or two each night.

“It’s astonishing to me that the state would think this is OK,” she said.

“If they get away with it once, they will do it again. The city ordinances are there for a reason.”

The checklist of environmental considerations prepared by the state for the project mentions “temporary and intermittent noise impacts to residents living close to Francis Avenue.”

It doesn’t mention the noise will be at night. And residents were never warned about the noisy nighttime paving.

City officials aren’t sure how to react.

Francis Avenue is one of the busiest roads in the city, with 31,500 cars each day and heavy commuter traffic.

“If the community consensus is that this is OK, that it’s a way to get the pain over as quickly as possible, then maybe a balance can be struck,” said Phil Williams, city director of engineering services.

Bob Brennan, asphalt manager for Acme Paving, which is under contract with the state for the project, said nighttime paving is nothing new.

“We paved Division at night the last two years,” he said.

Brennan said he even remembers being contracted by the city once to pave at night in a residential area on Mission near Greene Street.

Gilson said another argument for nighttime paving is that there are three elementary schools and a middle school near the Francis Avenue paving route.

Fresh asphalt temperatures reach 320 degrees, and the possibility of children trying to walk across the pavement is a danger.

“I would rather have someone complain to me about sleep deprivation than to have to answer to parents with a child in the intensive care unit,” said Lenzi.

“The department believes avoiding daytime hours for the paving work was essential for the overall safety and welfare of the community,” Gilson said.

, DataTimes