The Pain of Living Through Constant Construction

Much has and will be written on the many problems of too much development in areas without the infrastructure to support it, on the health and well-being of the residents both new and old, on the environmental impacts, on traffic, on the loss of greenspace.  These usually focus on what things are and will be like when the new buildings are built.

Those who live in areas of Burlington where the construction is ongoing – and is pretty much never-ending – have discovered something else which deserves both attention and action by our city and elected officials:  living through these projects is seriously problematic.   Legislation, by-laws and policies should be enacted to ensure that the rights of all residents with respect to things such as their quality of life, their safety, their ability to travel both by car or on foot or bicycle, and their physical and mental health, is prioritized over any developer’s right to maximize their profits at the expense of residents and the efficient ebb and flow of the city.

Getting around downtown Burlington is now practically impossible; it is heavily congested, bordering often on total gridlock.  To make matters worse, private developers routinely take over lanes of public roads and entire sidewalks for months and years while they build condos.  Lakeshore is a major road and the direct link to our only hospital, yet we have lost a lane and the sidewalk on it between Martha Street and Pearl for years now, as the Adi building is still being built, five years after it began (with Adi assuring residents it would take 30 months), and we now have the latest Carriage Gate tower in its beginning stages right next door.  Soon we will have at least three towers right across the street going up between Lakeshore and Old Lakeshore Roads.

Pedestrians walking there on Lakeshore would discover too late that the sidewalk just stopped and the construction tunnel was closed off when the workers went home.  This caused the sudden and unsafe situation where they’d now be walking on the narrow road in the dark, with no sidewalk on the other side, approaching a curve with a median, and oncoming cars would not expect anyone to be walking on the road.  For cyclists, there literally isn’t room for both them and the cars. 

A portion of Brock Street was completely closed in all directions for cars and pedestrians for over two years to build a tower there.  Martha Street has had lanes and sidewalks closed off and on from Pine to Lakeshore for the past few years, at times creating a very dangerous situation for all pedestrians on both streets.  There are numerous other examples and there will be considerably more.  Traffic congestion is not only bad for our moods and stress levels, it’s bad for the environment, and bad for businesses.

Municipalities should not be allowing private developers to take over lanes of public roads and sidewalks, let alone for years on end.  Requests for permits to occupy the road allowance and sidewalks should automatically be denied, except in rare circumstances.  In those cases, time limits should be set and enforced, and the cost of occupying public space should be high – with fees paid to the City for the privilege, and the revenue from them being put to good public use.

Then there is the noise and the dust.  It is extremely stressful and unhealthy living close to constant construction noise.  During COVID, developers were allowed to extend the hours they worked on construction.   Nearby residents found they couldn’t get a break from the dust and noise, even on evenings and Sundays.  Premier Doug Ford said, in announcing 24/7 allowances for essential construction:  “During this escalating crisis, we are taking immediate steps to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place, particularly to properly care for those with severe COVID-19 symptoms and other patients who require critical care.”  Nobody could explain why the regulations also changed the rules for non-essential construction like condos, extending their allowances significantly.  This is an example of where the priorities wrongly lie:  not with resident needs, but with developers’ profits.

What is the effect on local businesses when traffic gridlock, parking difficulties, noise, dust, wind-tunnels, and difficult pedestrian access will increasingly keep people from wanting to shop and visit these areas?

We may well see many more downtown residents moving away, unwilling to live through what is happening during this mass construction and knowing it will only get worse and will last for decades.  Unfortunately, these issues are going to be spreading city-wide as more and more large developments are built across Burlington – outside the GO station areas as well.   Who is standing up for the interests, quality of life and well-being of residents and local businesses and ensuring the efficiency of getting around the City during all this building?  Our elected officials and our city planners certainly should be.