Evening and night construction on the new Metro City Ring may be resumed while noise complaints are being considered.
After-hours construction was halted earlier this summer after complaints were submitted to the nature and environmental complaints board, Natur- og Miljøklagenævnet, by neighbours who say the sites exceeded agreed-upon noise levels.
But while the board said the construction had to stop while the complaints were being considered, City Council has now opened up the possibility of letting construction go ahead.
“Our position has always been that the complaints shouldn’t have an immediate effect,” Jens Elmelund, the head of development at the city's department for technical and environmental affairs, stated in a press release.
The decision arrives after Metroselskabet, the company responsible for building the City Ring, complained that the decision to halt construction was made without first speaking to all the parties involved.
After-hours construction at Marmorkirken, Øster Søgade, Gammel Strand, Copenhagen Central Station and Sønder Boulevard were all stopped after Natur- og Miljøklagenævnet received noise complaints from neighbours.
Following Metroselskabet’s own complaint about having to reduce its construction hours, the council will start ten days of public hearings starting on September 12.
The council will then decide whether the night-time construction should be stopped until the noise complaints are treated.
Earlier this month, Metroselskabet warned that stopping 24-hour construction at some key sites could delay the completion of the City Ring by up to six years and cost an extra nine billion kroner.
