r/LoudNoisesOttawa • u/FlashyAgent8171 • Jul 20 '25

Elgin St. Last Night

Is it only me, but was last night unbearable for anyone else living near Elgin St.? Loud mufflers, racing vehicles/motorcycles, incessant honking and a variety of horns between 10:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. ?!?

I tolerate music, screaming, yelling very well, but this, this is too much. This is a form of terrorism! I am a wreck today, physically and mentally. Dreading this Saturday night and a possible repeat. Where's the OPS in all this?

11 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

16

u/JamesGibsonESQ Jul 20 '25

Maybe I'm missing something.... What I can tell you is that before COVID, you should just expect Elgin to be that loud every thurs-sun. It's a bar street. Not saying that's awesome for the residents, but this was just always the way. Did it tone down after COVID? I guess maybe the construction that took place for years might have given it an artificial buffer.

I feel for you and my heart goes out to you, but yeah, word of warning, it's been that bad for decades and will probably go back to it now that COVID/construction finally ended and that street is wide open for parties again.

-2

u/FlashyAgent8171 Jul 20 '25

Last night was fine, but the Friday night was something else! I've been living in this area for a long time (20+ years), and am rarely bothered by noise coming from bars, the street, the highway... The noise this Friday surpassed all levels of decency.

With several hotels and restaurants in the area, is it really fine by the OPS to let this brazenness continue, and ignore the safety and well-being of guests, tourists and residents?

-2

u/JamesGibsonESQ Jul 20 '25

The problem is more proof and accountability. It's near impossible to do anything if there isn't direct video evidence. It's also a sad reality that the youngest generation is hooked on the slogan ACAB. cops used to be respected by drunk teens, but now it's a different time, and cops coming to stop rowdy traffic may escalate the problem instead of diffusing it.

In the end, it's unfortunate, but the best case situation is to ignore noise complaints unless enough people call and complain. Otherwise, it goes ignored.

5

u/carlsroch Jul 21 '25

I live off of Elgin, it was normal, you should probably move or invest in earplugs.

7

u/Lowpasss Jul 20 '25

People who drive downtown just to roll up and down elgin with loud pipes, who do you think you're impressing?

5

u/kidcobol Jul 20 '25

Each other

5

u/OverTheHillnChill Jul 20 '25

Did you phone in a complaint?

1

u/Own-Ad-7498 Aug 07 '25

I always wonder if people who complain on internet forums do anything. Complaining on reddit is just for venting, but people have to do more, like write to a city councillor or to OPS traffic services. One email may not have any effect, but at least the data is recorded. A reddit post just lets you vent.

0

u/FlashyAgent8171 Jul 20 '25

No, I didn't. I might do that if the trend continues.

9

u/mtreddit4 Jul 20 '25

The trend has been on-going for years. At this point there are a couple of vehicles that I can identify by their noise without even looking. If the city wanted to do something about it they could have police/bylaw stand at the Somerset/Elgin intersection to hand out tickets on any Saturday night. But they don't.

3

u/chasing_daylight Jul 21 '25

So you took the time to complain on reddit. But in the midst of not being able to sleep, you couldn't be bothered to call bylaw or OPS...the exact people you're blaming for not intervening. Terrific logic.