Residents in West Jasper Place are bracing for a noisy and smelly spring, as work is set to resume on the sewer line that left their neighbourhood so smelly it sent people to hospital last summer.

A neighbourhood sewer line under repair was capped in the fall, but not before hydrogen sulphide and other gases wafted into the area. In some cases, the odour was so strong it made people nauseous.

"No community has had to tolerate the conditions West Jasper Place has endured," said Irene Blain, civic director for the West Jasper Place Community League, at a council utilities meeting on Friday.

"Our community has been through hell."

Blain said she's concerned about what will happen when crews reopen the shaft in May to finish repairs, the work is expected to last until October.

The city plans to install air scrubbers at two key intersections in the neighbourhood to combat the smell. The large machines work to deodorize the air, but there is a trade off: they're very loud.

So loud, in fact, according to the manufacturer's specification they would break the city's noise bylaws. And the city plans to run the scrubbers at all hours.

Blain said that's a big problem for neighbours who have already suffered as a result of this project.

"We have people that are working, We have young children," she said.

City crews hope to insulate the machines so they don't disrupt the neighbourhood more than necessary.

Blain said, at this point, she just wants the work to be done properly and to be finished quickly.

While she and her neighbours are prepared to suffer through a potentially loud and stinky summer, Blain said their biggest fear is that crews will continue to use the shaft in their neighbourhood, after the work is finished, to make repairs to the sewer in nearby Crestwood.

"I can tell you right now, if they even think of doing that we will have a protest," she said.

Todd Wyman, acting executive director of utilities infrastructure, confirmed work will continue down 99th Avenue into Crestwood, but they haven't figured out how they will tackle those repairs.

"We can't make a firm commitment whether or not we'll be out of the West Jasper Place intersection yet," Wyman said.

He said his department is taking the resident's concerns to heart.

"We're listening, and we're trying to do the best we can to finish this piece of infrastructure that's fairly critical to the entire city," he said.

Work is set to resume on the project in May.