Noise complaint halts work on Sunset Tunnel in S.F.

A Muni streetcar passes equipment in San Francisco’s Duboce Park neighborhood being used in construction work going on inside the Sunset Tunnel. The work is designed to improve service on the busy N-Judah Metro line. less A Muni streetcar passes equipment in San Francisco’s Duboce Park neighborhood being used in construction work going on inside the Sunset Tunnel. The work is designed to improve service on the busy N-Judah ... more Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Noise complaint halts work on Sunset Tunnel in S.F. 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Sleep-deprived residents of the Duboce Park neighborhood have halted a Muni rail replacement project inside the Sunset Tunnel that aims to improve service on the busy N-Judah Metro line.

Neighbors living at the east end of the tunnel filed an appeal of the nighttime noise permit allowing contractors to work on Friday through Sunday nights, shutting down the months-long project until a hearing can be held on March 18.

“Man, it’s really loud,” said Bud Offermann, who lives on Duboce Street, near the eastern mouth of the tunnel and filed the appeal.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials are hurriedly trying to work out a deal that will give neighbors some nighttime calm while allowing the work to proceed next weekend, Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.

“We’re doing everything we can to get this resolved as soon as possible,” said Paul Rose, an MTA spokesman, who also said, “but we do plan to resume work next weekend.”

Agency officials have canceled overnight work this weekend, though they said it’s because of concerns about finishing in time for the Monday morning commute. But with the noise permit suspended, they wouldn’t have been able to work between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., said Rachel Gordon, a spokeswoman for San Francisco Public Works, which issues the permits.

Construction sounds

While most of the work is taking place inside the 4,232-foot tunnel, construction crews have to haul gravel, rails and other materials in from either end. It creates a cacophony of construction sounds that includes the shrill beeping of trucks and earthmovers backing up, the pounding sounds of dump trucks depositing gravel, and the grating noise of rails being dragged.

“The homes shake and vibrate,” Offermann said. “The gravel dumps are huge. When they scrape with a front loader, it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. But I think everyone agrees that the four pieces of equipment with beepers on are the worst.”

The project is part of an MTA effort to replace worn rails throughout the Metro light-rail system. In addition to the track work, crews are also making structural repairs to the walls and foundation of the 86-year-old tunnel.

“It’s meant to improve service and safety on the N-Judah, the busiest line in our system,” Rose said.

Construction started in November, then was halted for the holidays. When it resumed in January, neighbors near the east portal decided it was time to try to stop the all-night din. Work is scheduled to take place on 11 more weekends — from Friday night through Monday morning — with an estimated completion date in June, Rose said.

Residents’ petition

Tired of the noise, after two recent sleepless weekends, Offermann handed out a petition to his neighbors near Duboce Park. At least 51 have signed the document asking for the MTA “to prevent unacceptable noise that interferes with the ability of the residents to sleep in their homes.”

Neighbors also submitted the appeal of a nighttime noise permit allowing Muni and the contractor to work at night. According to Offermann, it requires the MTA to halt work, or at least keep it substantially quieter, until the March 18 hearing.

The neighbors are asking that Muni stop using the backup beepers at night — state law permits use of a signal-person instead, they say, and split the gravel dumping between the eastern and western portals of the tunnel — or put up residents in hotels when crews are working at night.

The agency has been talking with neighbors, Rose said. He said the agency and contractors believe that occupational safety regulations mandate the backup beeper, and said they are already splitting the gravel dumping. As for putting up affected neighbors in hotels, he said, that’s not permitted under an agency policy.

Rose said the MTA has received “fewer than five” complaints about the project — all about noise.

Offermann said the neighbors aren’t trying to stop the work but hope to get the city to turn down the noise on weekends. If the city doesn’t agree, they’re planning to put on their pajamas and grab picket signs and demonstrate outside the eastern portal one night, he said.

“We know this project has to get done,” he said. “But this is unbearable.”

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan