Hey, there! Log in / Register

Some Roxbury residents discover they're living next to an all-night industrial zone

By adamg on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 9:35am

Seems neighbors of the old Bartlett bus yard on Washington Street didn't realize the community development group that now oversees the site was going to let a contractor use the yard at all hours for work related to a project to repair water and sewer pipes in Roxbury.

Based on this discussion, residents thought the work at the site would stop at 7 p.m. Instead:

We have heard the noise as well and it has even woken up our 18 month old son a number of times. The work has been going on all night. Heavy equipment and trucks seem to be constantly moving with beeping and heavy metal plates being shifted as well and gravel and sand being moved to various locations.

Nuestra Community Development Corp., which wants to build mixed-income housing and retail space on the 8.5-acre site, replied the contractor has permission to do its work 24 hours, but that it's been asked to be "courteous" to neighbors.

Neighborhoods: 
Roxbury
Free tagging: 
Development


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

By anon on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 11:39am.

Both noise ordinances and construction permits have a lot to say on the subject.

up
Voting closed 0

By Ron Newman on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 11:53am.

There is no good reason to have that dubious 'feature' switched on after 9 pm. The company should require all of its trucks to turn it off, either at night or entirely at all times.

up
Voting closed 0

By deepfreeze on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 12:26pm.

That would be great, but 99% of the time the beeper is hard wired directly into the reverse light/gear without a switch in between, so you can't turn it off without clipping some wires. I don't work in construction, but I'm considering installing a beeper on my car because I have a blind driveway - as slowly as I try to back out, there's always someone trying to cross the sidewalk who doesn't see or hear me.

The inability to switch the noise off is also a safety and legal concern. If a driver turns the beeper off at the end of the night shift, another driver takes the truck out in the morning failing to turn it back on, and then accidentally backs into a blind person, that's an avoidable tragedy - that's why the beeper was installed there in the first place. Many vehicles who have them don't have rear windows or cameras, or otherwise have significant blind spots.

Sadly, it does inconvenience those expecting a quiet night's sleep or who get annoyed by beeping noises, but, in the short term, it's better that someone gets woken up than someone else gets accidentally run over.

up
Voting closed 0

By anosha on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 12:51pm.

There are alternatives available but NO contractors use them:

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_docum...

Where the back-up camera provides an "unobstructed view to the rear," that is, a clear view of the path the vehicle is to take, such that the driver can see if anyone is in that path or about to enter the danger area of that path, the requirement for an audible alarm or observer is not applicable. Here, the camera system provides the operator with a clear view to the rear and, thus, this back-up alarm requirement is not triggered.

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_docum...

In addition, in a May 27, 2004 interpretation letter to Mr. Richard Holmes, we acknowledged that the standard may be met through the use of more technically advanced devices than the common single (high-pitch) tone alarm. Mr. Holmes asked if a reverse alarm manufactured in the United Kingdom that uses "white noise" instead of a single-tone alarm could be used to meet these requirements. We stated that §§1926.601(b)(4) and 1926.602(a)(9) allow for the use of such devices if they are shown to be effective.

up
Voting closed 0

By roadman on Thu, 08/23/2012 - 4:57pm.

back up cameras or "white noise" alarms as an alternative to beepers? All I see here is a couple of interpertation letters, which the majority of contractors may not even be aware of.

Plus, what are the costs of the other options as compared to the traditional beepers? Like most other businesses these days, contractors are always going to go with the least expensive option available to them.

up
Voting closed 0

By anosha on Thu, 08/23/2012 - 6:29pm.

Section 1926.601(b)(4) states:

§1926.601 Motor vehicles.
* * *
(b) General requirements,
* * *
(4) No employer shall use any motor vehicle equipment having an obstructed view to the rear unless:
(i) The vehicle has a reverse signal alarm audible above the surrounding noise level or:
(ii) The vehicle is backed up only when an observer signals that it is safe to do so.
(Emphasis added).

The interpretation letter says that a rear-facing camera can qualify as unobstructed rear view and therefore doesn't trigger the requirements of this section.

up
Voting closed 0

By JohnAKeith on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 8:10pm.

A supermarket.

up
Voting closed 0

By eeka on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 8:52pm.

Put a Wegman's there!

up
Voting closed 0

By somenerd on Tue, 08/21/2012 - 12:06pm.

Me? I'd love a Whole Foods!

up
Voting closed 0

By anon on Sat, 09/01/2012 - 3:09am.

White noise (white-sound, broadband sound) backup alarms will be heard only where needed, near the back of the trucks and eliminate the noise complaints. Not only this but they are safer since white sound is locatable someone at risk instantly knows where the truck is, now more spinning henads trying to work out which truck is backing. Many cities now either require or recommend their use.

up
Voting closed 0