Her story is a familiar one for fellow East Brisbane resident Belinda Turner, who in early 2019, after nights of constant noise, walked out and blocked contractors' trucks in protest. Ms Turner said after weeks of lost sleep, it took her all but breaking down at a council meeting for her exhaustion and stress to be taken seriously. The jarring, crashing noise of jackhammers and roar of asphalting drove her anxiety high, she said, meaning she now braces herself for disruption at the slightest noise outside her house. "I've just had to fight and scream and do whatever I can just to be heard and it shouldn't be like that," she said. "I couldn't go to work, I was getting migraines, it was just horrible."

Infrastructure committee chairman David McLachlan said stage 1A of the Wynnum Road upgrades was 90 per cent complete, and stage 1b was 50 per cent complete. "Once completed, the road will be widened to six lanes, deliver a two-way off-road bikeway, realign bus stops and remove right-turn movements across Wynnum Road to improve safety and reduce congestion," he said. Residents were recently informed there would be a further four weeks of night work from 7pm to 5am, depending on the weather. Brisbane City Council's $128m upgrades to Wynnum and Lytton roads are expected to be completed by the end of April. Credit:Lucy Stone "Council will always work to minimise the construction impacts on nearby residents and on a case-by-case basis, council can provide temporary relocation in exceptional circumstances," Cr McLachlan said.

"Council appreciates the patience and understanding of the local community while these safety upgrades are being undertaken." Loading In a letter written to lord mayor Adrian Schrinner in February, Ms Rich questioned why the council had not undertaken risk assessments on residents' health when preparing for the Wynnum Road upgrades. "By January I was averaging five hours' sleep while heavily pregnant due to the constant roadworks noise," she wrote. "What was meant to be my dream home has turned into a living nightmare. My first 12 months as a mother has been fraught with stress and anxiety due to chronic sleep deprivation.

"... There needs to be more done when looking at long-term effects on the surrounding population when implementing long-term road works, especially when it comes to general physical and mental health of those residing in the area." Ms Rich said her smartwatch logged a 588-hour sleep deficit between February and August last year. Her baby, she said, also required additional sleep training and was unable to sleep for more than an hour. Road work has been under way since January 2018. Credit:Lucy Stone Three residents have been offered relocation temporarily by council over the project's timeline, of which two accepted temporary hotel stays during night work.

One resident was relocated twice, and another on four nights, at an average of $170 a night. Ms Rich said she had rejected the offer of a hotel as it did not solve the long-term problems and would cause more problems for her young family and dogs. Ms Turner said she had accepted an offer of a hotel room from the council during the worst of the noise. "I have no option but to leave. I'm grateful for getting that but I didn't get that for an awfully long time and I had to be right at the end of my rope for them to offer it to me," she said. She, like Ms Rich, wants the council to undertake more assessments of noise impacts on residents' health and wellbeing when managing large-scale road projects.

Jonathan Sri, Greens councillor for The Gabba ward, said the council had not properly accounted for the impact of the project on residents when planning the road upgrade. "... The feasibility studies and business cases didn’t properly account for how the noise pollution, air pollution and disruption to pedestrian access would impact local businesses and residents," he said. "If they had actually quantified those negative impacts, they would have realised that the project’s supposed benefits didn’t outweigh the harm it would cause." Cr Sri said the project would "not improve traffic congestion or travel times". The project is expected to be finished by the end of April.