A group of fed-up homeowners say their lives have become a living hell because of a 24-hour-a-day construction site that’s been going for an entire year.
Charlie Jin, cried as she pleaded for the roadwork to widen King Georges Road in Penshurst, in the city’s south, to end.
‘We’re being treated in our own homes as prisoners,’ she told A Current Affair on Tuesday.
Work to widen the busy street by three lanes has run 24 hours a day for over a year with the bulk of construction done at night, when parts of the road can be closed.
Homes along the road have lost access to their driveways and are exposed to heavy light pollution and near-constant noise that’s keeping them up all night.
Noisy roadwork to widen King Georges Road in Penshurst (above) has kept residents from getting a decent sleep in over a year
Some have also reported increased health problems, like asthma, due to dust.
Footage from inside homes along the street show it is almost impossible to sleep with loud machinery and bright lights affecting residents well into the night.
Ms Jin had to buy a trolley to move her groceries to her home from the carpark down the street since losing access to her driveway.
The blockage has also rendered her newly installed electric car charger useless with her husband now forced to find public chargers to use.
‘We happily installed the EV charger, had a solar panel installed – everything we could dream of to be more environmentally friendly but then in June we realised we don’t have access to our driveway,’ she said.
A group of frustrated neighbours say they understand the large construction is necessary and will take time but pleaded for the heavy work to be completed during the day.
‘It’s killing us, the amount of noise, the amount of pollution, the amount of interruptions,’ Ms Jin said.
‘Everything’s wrong about this project.’
Resident of 12 years, Charlie Jin (above), said she and her neighbours are living like ‘prisoners’ with construction blocking access to their homes and affecting their health
Steven Issa from Transport for New South Wales said in a statement that some of the roadwork cannot be done during the day for safety reasons.
‘We will continue to work with residents to find a solution, alternate accommodation when noise is at its worst and meet their needs more broadly whilst we get through the remainder of the project,’ he said.
He added residents should regain access to their driveways by Christmas.
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