Homeowners living in the shadow of Bristol’s M32 and M5 flyovers tell of how their lives are made a misery by traffic noise and litter raining down from motorways above
- Jackie Payne, 66, says she can’t open her windows because the M5 is too loud
- Under the M32, local Kelly, 40, says rubbish is often hurled onto her home
Homeowners who live in the shadow of the M32 and M5 flyovers have told of how their lives have been made a misery by traffic noise and litter raining down from above.
The Bristol locals say the motorways tower over their homes and dominate their skyline, and can also be so loud they’re forced to keep their windows closed in the depths of summer.
Many are now regretting their decision to move to the neighbourhoods in the centre of Bristol and Avonmouth Docks – or looking to move after calling the area home for decades.
Jackie Payne, 66, shifted to under the M5 in Avonmouth five years ago and has lived to regret the decision.
She said: ‘We want to move somewhere quieter. We can’t open the windows because you can’t hear the TV.
Jackie Payne moved to Avonmouth, Bristol near the M5 five years ago – and regrets the decision
Neighbour Philip Jacobs has been living in his home for more than seven decades and has dubbed the bridge an ‘eyesore’
Locals living under the nearby M32 have complained of similar issues
‘I have got about six fans in the front room because it gets so hot.
‘When the lorries hit a particular drain it makes such a noise.
‘We can’t sit in the garden because you can hear it and hear the lorries all day – it gets on my nerves.
‘I come from a village. I would go out into my garden and all you could hear was the cows mooing.’
The 66-year-old said the bridge did pose its own problems.
She said: ‘It blocks the sun to the front room and we get litter in the garden.
‘I am always worried that a lorry will crash through the barrier.’
Neighbour Philip Jacobs, 84, moved to his home in Avonmouth when he was just eight years old – before plans for the M5 bridge had even been thought up.
Tom Benoy, 27, said he can’t sit ‘peacefully outside’ because of the noise from the M32
The M5 blocks the sun for some houses, locals say
Locals living near the M32 say litter rains down on their home from the flyovers above
The OAP said: ‘I was here when it was built. They built it in sections.
‘I was doing shift work as a lorry driver at the time, often working at night, and the noise was unbelievable – I couldn’t get any sleep.’
Philip, who still lives in the property with his wife Carol, 69, said he had gotten used to traffic noise but conceded the bridge was still a nuisance.
He said: ‘There is a lot of noise, but I have got used to it.
‘The bridge blocks the sun and it’s an eyesore.
‘It is convenient for people driving, that is how the world works.’
Kelly, 40, who withheld her surname, said litter and other objects had been lobbed down at her house from above.
She said: ‘People throw things from the bridge, which is a problem for the kids.
‘Our conservatory was smashed twice by laughing gas canisters three years ago.’
Fellow neighbour, Joan Seoker, 86, has lived in the area for four decades – and quickly got used to the bridge.
She said: ‘We have got double glazing.
‘We don’t take any notice of it anymore. We got used to it.’
In nearby Eastville, the M32 passes above homes on its dissection of north-east Bristol.
Tom Benoy, 27, has called the area home for five years, and says the traffic noise stops him going outside and enjoying the sunshine.
He said: ‘The only thing I don’t like is not being able to peacefully sit outside.
‘We have the river, it’s a nice area. The only reason I would ever move is to get away from the noise.’
Tahir, 64, has become accustomed to the racket of the bypass.
He said: ‘Living here for twenty years, I don’t have a problem with it. My bedroom faces it.
‘When you open the window you can hear it, of course you hear it.’
Tahir said the motorway was inevitably very audible in his well-kept garden.
He said: ‘You can’t double glaze a garden.’
References
- ^ Jane Matthews (www.dailymail.co.uk)