Posted on 03/06/2017 3:53:10 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
BROOKSVILLE (FOX 13) - Some neighbors in Hernando County have had it with the noise. They say all-night construction on I-75 is keeping them awake, even shaking their homes.
It's all related to a 6.5-mile, $95 million FDOT project that started last summer. Crews are currently widening Interstate 75 from four to six lanes, starting south of State Road 50 and finishing at the Hernando/Sumter County line.
Lauretta Clemons, who lives on Shadywood Lane in Brooksville, remembers her backyard 30 years ago.
"Beautiful," Clemons said. "Trees, ferns, flowers, birds and wild animals."
Now, the trees are gone and she and her neighbors are have a front row seat to the construction.
"I moved here from Fort Lauderdale and I thought this was God's country," said Doris Wendell. "Well, this isn't God's country now, with all this going on."
It's not just the sight that has neighbors losing actual sleep. It's the noise and vibration, sometimes from p.m. to a.m.
"You hear clanging and banging and booming and beep beep beep beep when they're backing up," Clemons said.
"It shakes the house when they're using the milling machines," said Hailey Maurey. "My son is in kindergarten, so it affects his schooling because he can't sleep at night. It's affecting our community here."
"The pounding was so bad, I thought someone was knocking on the wall of my house," said Cyndie Russano.
And then, they say, there's the dust.
"I have trouble breathing," Wendell said.
"The car could be washed every day and you could still write your name on it," Russano said.
FDOT spokesman John McShaffrey told FOX 13 that, when possible, crews work during the day. But if work requires lane closures, crews must work at night because there's less traffic and less likelihood of wrecks. He said heavy equipment drivers try to limit activities like backing up so alarms don't wake people up.
Why not build a noise barrier? FDOT says the noise level didn't warrant one. Neighbors disagree.
"We requested a wall and that wasn't built," Maurey said. "If you're doing to do it at night, put up a barrier so the residents in the community can sleep at night."
We checked to see if the noise violates any of Hernando County's noise ordinances. However, scheduled road construction by city, county and state agencies and authorized contractors is exempt.
While FDOT is sensitive to the noise issue, it says night work will continue. The entire project is expected to be completed in fall 2019.
This is why property near highways tend to sell for lower prices than those not.
You get what you pay for.
Hernando county is directly west of Orlando. I75 runs through the eastern 1/4 of the county.
I’m so glad you came to listen.....
bitch, bitch, bitch, pile driving, bitch bitch bitch
The freeway was there long before these people moved there. We have people here who complain about the race track and the noise but bought houses near it same with waterfront on lakes big waterfront development near me recently built and filled up in no time now they complain about the airboats on the lake.
Especially that!
I grew up near a hog farm. One time a recent arrival to the neighborhood filed a complaint with the health board because the farmer was spreading hog shiite on his fields and stinking the place up.
So they bought a house near an interstate and are shocked and disturbed by construction? What a shock that there is construction every so often! Suck it up, buttercups.
See this is where I always side with those who were there first. That is why I am against those in Virginia beach who move into a new development and complain about the noise from the base and aircraft. The base was there first. These people did not move to their homes to hear noise all night. I think the city, county and state needs to do work during the day because again the residence were their first.
In Florida they pretty much are all privatized.....around Orlando for sure and all along the state from north to south. It is crazy, but it is still pretty cheap to live down here overall.
I hope the OSHA Leftists and others who have ordered these things be used are sent to hell and spend eternity beside one of these things going off.
That and the obnoxious car 'dingers' that go off every time a car door is opened.
I’ve heard these complaints about farms, as suburbia spreads farther and farther out from many major cities. Some newcomers complain about the smells, narrow roads, slow moving farm machinery on narrow farm roads, etc. in their new places of residence.
They have to realize that everyplace has “issues” if you will, or downsides to living there. I fully understand how people moved out of the cities to get away from problems there. But they have to realize they escape from city problems but then have to tolerate some other things in their new homes. It’s a trade off.
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