YVR is destroying a 15 acre park between Burkeville and airport operations to build a huge logistics building operating 24/7/365. The noise and air pollution threatens the health and wellness of the residents of our community.
A resident from Wellington asked me to post this. The backhoe is banging the bucket on the ground to compact the sand and the ground is shaking, not to mention the noise. We have contacted YVR and they are “looking into it”.
Did you notice that they are using the new “whisper” back-up beepers? No, we didnt’ either.
YVR sent us an email yesterday describing this as, “Ongoing compacting along Templeton Street and additional new compaction for the MUP, immediately adjacent to the fence line.”
The MUP is the Multi Use Path that no one wants. Residents along Wellington were forced to leave their houses today for their own safety.
Sounds that are 85 dBA or above can permanently damage your ears.
YVR is ok with this.
The weather has been hot and dry. The dust from Templeton Park permeates every open window and door. We have sent numerous complaints to YVR and they insist that they are doing everything they can to mitigate the dust. The park is approximately 16 acres, there are over 20 trucks at any given time and they have one water truck. This truck has not moved in the past 2 hours. This plan is not working.
YVR informed us that they have been monitoring the noise at the Templeton Park construction site and assure us that it is in a safe range. We have been listening to it continuously for weeks and decided to test for ourselves. Starting at 7:00 a.m. through until 6:00 p.m. the amplitude measured between 70 and 85 dBA.
“Amplitude measures how forceful the wave is. It is measured in decibels or dBA of sound pressure. 0 dBA is the softest level that a person can hear. Normal speaking voices are around 65 dBA. A rock concert can be about 120 dBA.
Sounds that are 85 dBA or above can permanently damage your ears. The more sound pressure a sound has, the less time it takes to cause damage. For example, a sound at 85 dBA may take as long at 8 hours to cause permanent damage, while a sound at 100 dBA can start damaging hair cells after only 30 minutes of listening.” (http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/virtualexhibit/6measuringsound.html)
At the YVR Open House, many residents of Burkeville asked if YVR would be extending Templeton Street through to Russ Baker Way. We were told that it “was not in YVR’s immediate plans”. Which was true on that day. Turns out it has always been “in the plan”. A resident received this picture from YVR clearly showing (B) that they are extending Templeton. As much as they kept reiterating the road would be gated and only used for access to the Hydro station and the aviary.
It is not very subtle because they actually called it “South Templeton Street Extension”. A picture is worth a thousand “omitting the truth” words.
For residents living along Wellington Crescent adjacent Templeton Park, life has become unbearable. The headaches, agitation and frustration are at an all time high. Tile flooring and wall plaster is cracking. This video is an example of one of the mini-earthquakes that take place every four minutes due to the construction in Templeton Park.
YVR remains unsympathetic.
Site preparation on Templeton Park started last Monday and the noise and vibration is debilitating to residents. Most residents along Wellington Crescent are working from home, isolating at home or schooling their children at home. This construction is making that impossible. The work begins at 7:00 a.m. and does not stop until after 6:00 p.m. YVR is making up for lost time because of the pandemic.
At any given time, there are 5 dump trucks, 4 back hoes and numerous earth movers. The workers are not social distancing and no one is wearing a mask. It is horrifying to watch. To top it off, one of our residents was taunted for being “stupid enough to live next to an airport”. Not his exact words, we can’t write those here.
Residents are suffering from recurring headaches and sleepless nights. The noise is so disrupting that family pets have been hiding in closets. One resident has a giant crack in her house’s front foyer tile. Hundreds of telephone calls and emails have been sent to YVR, but no response.
How can YVR say they are a community airport?
This is how the residents along Wellington Crescent woke up this morning. One resident said, “My house is shaking so this is now not just a noise issue but also seems to be compromising my structure as well.” Another woman who was in the lane to see what was happening added, “Has anyone from YVR ever been to Burkeville during the construction?” It would be easy to summize that it is not “community minded”. We can hear the construction workers yelling at each other over the noise of the machinery. Something has to give.
Since the closure of Templeton Road by YVR, the back lane of Burkeville and Wellington Crescent have become full-time bike lanes. Some days there is a non-stop stream of cyclists, some families but mainly hard-core cyclists. Safe-distancing dictates that people should maintain at least 2 meters but that is based on people standing near each other and not the fast movement of air currents. Both the street and especially the laneway are not 2 meters wide when you take into consideration pedestrians, parked cars, or garbage cans.
It begs the question, how dangerous is coughing, sneezing, or spitting while cycling? Spreading COVID-19 via spit is possible, according to Amy Treakle, M.D., an infectious disease specialist with The Polyclinic in Seattle. “COVID-19 is spread by respiratory droplets when a person coughs or sneezes, and transmission may occur when these droplets enter the mouths, noses, or eyes of people who are nearby.”
So what is the solution? It makes perfect sense for SICA and YVR to close the access route for Sea Island Elementary School to cyclists. It would still be accessible for pedestrians who wish to access the Canada Line. YVR has designed an alternative path utilizing their own infrastructure to direct cyclists across Russ Baker Way, down Cessna Drive and onto Miller Road or onto existing cycling paths.
It is a win-win. Cyclists can still ride and residents of Burkeville will remain safe.
Save Templeton Park 