Vibrating speed bumps are driving us to despair: Residents ‘can’t sleep at night’ due to noise from newly installed traffic measures causing ‘houses to shake’ and CRACKS to form in ceilings

Residents are being driven to despair after speed bumps installed on their road have caused ‘homes to shake’ and left cracks in the walls.

Locals claim their lives have been turned upside down ever since Waltham Forest Council installed the speed-reducing measures on Old Church Road in Chingford, east London, last year. 

Shanta Prasad, a life-long resident who was born in her home in 1964, revealed that life on the street was peaceful until the speed bumps were installed.

She told the Telegraph: ‘As soon as they were installed, our houses started to shake, it’s a busy arterial road, and when you get buses and lorries, it’s like Formula One.

‘I can’t sleep at night. I’ve been referred to the insomnia clinic. Sometimes all I want to do is cry.’

Locals claim their lives have been turned upside down ever since Waltham Forest Council installed the speed-reducing measures on Old Church Road (pictured) in Chingford, east London, last year 

Seven speed bumps were installed on the less than a mile-long road in 2022 as part of the council’s plans to reduce the speed limit to 20mph. Pictured are some of the speed bumps along Old Church Road, Chingford

Shanta Prasad, a life-long resident who was born in her home on Old Church Road in 1964, has claimed that life on the street was peaceful until the speed bumps were installed

Seven speed bumps were installed on the less than a mile-long road in 2022 as part of the council’s plans to reduce the speed limit to 20mph. 

They have become such an issue in the borough that Chingford MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith raised concerns about them in Parliament last week.

Lee Gilbert, 65, is among the Old Church Road residents campaigning against the disruptive speed bumps.

She revealed how a crack in her ceiling has gotten ‘worse and worse’ over the past year since the speed bumps were installed and now lives in fear of it ‘falling in’, the Telegraph reported. 

Local community traffic watch member Stephen Field, 59, echoed Ms Gilbert’s concerns that structural problems have been exacerbated by the bumps.

Locals are also suffering from ‘sleep deprivation’ because the street noise keeps them up at night. Pictured is a car driving over speed bumps in Old Church Road, Chingford

A car is seen driving over speed bumps in Endelbury Avenue, Chingford today. Residents in the area have complained about the effects of the traffic calming system since they were introduced last year

Cars are pictured driving along Old Church Road, where bumps have become such an issue that Chingford MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith raised concerns about them in Parliament last week following complaints from locals

Many houses in the area were built on shallow foundations, ‘not more than six inches on clay soil’, Mr Field told the publication. He feared the rattling caused by the bumps ‘could make it worse’.

READ MORE: Drivers slam ‘optical illusion’ 2D speed bumps painted along busy school-run to slow speeding traffic as an ‘absolute waste of paint’ – after old humps caused damage to cars

Another local resident Adam Thackeray told his local MP that his ‘windows vibrate’ and the house ‘judders when busses and large vehicles go past’.

He claimed the vibrations cause ‘furniture to rattle’ and have ‘resulted in cracks appearing around the house on various walls’.

But local councillors claim that ‘multiple studies’ have found that traffic vibration and road bumps are ‘unlikely to cause significant damage to buildings’.

Clyde Loakes, Waltham Forest council’s deputy leader, said the speed bumps were ‘working’ to improve overall safety in the area.

The number of deaths and serious injuries on the borough’s roads has fallen from 97 in 2018 to 70 last year, data has revealed.

Department for Transport studies have also found that lowering speed limits in residential areas from 30mph to 20mph can reduce road deaths by up to 40 per cent.

Conversations in homes located by the humps are ‘being drowned out’ during the day as traffic travels up and down Old Church Road, Sir Iain has claimed. A truck is pictured driving over a hump on the street

Sir Iain last week criticised the traffic measures in a House of Commons debate, alleging they are taking a toll on his constituents’ physical and mental health.

He shared the fears of local resident Andrew Mckinley, who no longer feels safe to cycle to work because he is ‘very tired due to lack of sleep’.

‘Since the speed humps have been installed outside my house, I have not had a full night’s quality sleep,’ Mr Mckinley said, adding that the situation has had a ‘big negative impact on my mental and physical wellbeing’. 

READ MORE: Battle of the speed bumps! Locals at war after traffic-calming measures are installed at private Grade II listed farm

Resident Tony Thorne claimed the ‘constant jerking’ caused by the bumps causes his wife, who suffers with arthritis of the spine, ‘to cry with the pain’.

‘We now have to plan our journeys to avoid certain areas due to the speed humps which even when you travel over them at 10 mph there are still problems with the bounce on exit,’ he said.

Sir Iain, who does not live in Chingford, revealed that he has sat in a number of homes in the area where – even at speeds of 20mph – ‘enormous vibrations’ can be felt as ‘large, heavy lorries hit the humps’. 

He said that conversations in homes located by the humps are ‘being drowned out’ during the day as traffic travels up and down the street. Locals are also suffering from ‘sleep deprivation’ because the street noise keeps them up at night.

‘I have talked to residents who are genuinely deeply stressed by what has happened, he said. ‘As for the effects on the public’s mental health, some residents now genuinely suffer from some kind of clinical depression.’ 

Sir Iain further argued that bus drivers are battling ‘impact damage’ on their spines and necks from the rocking motion caused by the bumps. 

He also claimed that the road bumps in Waltham Forest have been ‘poorly maintained’ and are causing damage to vehicles as drivers pass over them.

In October, Conservative councillors demanded that the Labour-led council carry out an independent review into the impact that the ‘suspected vibrations’ and the ‘nature of the traffic-calming measures’, but the review was rejected. Pictured are cars travelling along Old Church Road, Chingford

Vehicles drive over speed bumps on Station Rd, Chingford

In October, Conservative councillors demanded that the Labour-led council carry out an independent review into the impact that the ‘suspected vibrations’ and the ‘nature of the traffic-calming measures’, Sir Iain said.

But the review was rejected and their was ‘no other recourse’, he argued. 

Cllr Loakes, after the review was rejected, declared that road humps were the ‘only option’ to reduce speed in the borough, The Telegraph reported.

However industry experts have hit back against the claim, arguing there are alternative ways to reduce speed on the roads.

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