Noise from Purple Line construction keeping neighbors up in Montgomery County

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Annie and Josh Tulkin have been woken up by jackhammering noises vibrating through their house and their bed for nearly three weeks and they say the construction and tunneling for the Purple Line is the nuisance of their nightmares.

"As the tunneling has gotten closer to our house, the noise has gotten louder and the vibrations have kind of shifted, so we hear it in here in our bedroom and also in all other parts of the house," said Annie.

The Tulkins were two of nearly 30 people who showed up at a meeting with Maryland Transit Administration officials on Tuesday where they say they were offered apologies, yet no solutions.

The Purple Line will run underground for a brief portion of the system, directly underneath the Tulkins' street off of Flower Avenue, which is east of Downtown Silver Spring.

The couple and their neighbors believe state and county officials hid an exemption to existing noise and scheduling restrictions for the project. That exemption allows the Purple Line construction to occur 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

"To learn that all of this is built into a contract that Larry Hogan and the Board of Public Works members signed that sort of signed away for us our sleep and our sanity for a year is really disappointing," said Josh. "It doesn't feel like the way we should be doing business in Maryland."

For the families in this portion of Silver Spring, that has meant intermittent 3 a.m. wakeup calls.

MTA did not respond to FOX 5's questions about the residents' concerns.