Nightime construction near Vancouver hospital keeps patients, residents up all night
Patients at Vancouver General Hospital and nearby residents say noisy construction kept them awake overnight Friday.
The City of Vancouver confirmed in an email that crews were working on upgrades to 10th Avenue, between Oak and Willow, which included "isolated and limited jackhammering."
Crews have been improving the bike lane along the busy street. The city said the nature of the work required a full road closure, so it authorized the nighttime work to prioritize access to the hospital.
Ron Cole, who lives nearby, said construction started at 7 p.m. Friday and didn't stop throughout the night.
"It was noisy and we didn't get much sleep," Cole said. "It wasn't pleasant."
It wasn't just condo dwellers who were affected.
Dave Pasin had a close relative recovering from back surgery on the ninth floor of the hospital overnight.
Pasin said the relative called him at 5:30 a.m. to say she couldn't sleep, and even held up the phone for him to hear how noisy the construction was.
"In what world is it acceptable to jack hammer in front of a hospital at three in the morning?" Pasin said.
Vancouver Coastal Health said patient care is its primary concern and it will be talking to staff and patients about what happened.
The city said it did notify residents of the construction in advance, and it doesn't anticipate any more nighttime work on the project.
With files from Deborah Goble
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