Woodpark residents in Ottawa's west end want the city to do more to protect them from drivers who cut through their streets to avoid ongoing construction on Carling Avenue.

Construction began on Carling earlier this month to install a new water main, and the road is now down to one lane west of the Ottawa River Parkway. Frustrated motorists have been cutting through Woodpark, a neighbourhood between Carling and Richmond Road, to get around the snarled traffic.

"We scream at the cars and they scream back saying, 'we're just trying to get out,'" said Woodpark resident Cheryl Litt, who won't let her children go alone on the street.

"Our cars have been hit parked outside of our houses. They've been hit in our driveways. Neighbours' fences and properties have been hit and damaged. Our kids have been almost run over."

Woodpark Community Association president John Blatherwick, who witnessed 200 vehicles in one hour on a local street one day last week when the norm is typically 700 a day, suggested the city should block off some entry and exit roads into the neighbourhood.

He also wondered why construction crews aren't working weekends and evenings to get the job done faster.

But Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen said that option would place an enormous financial burden on taxpayers. He described the construction a necessary evil.

"Indeed it is, it's the price we pay for growth. Those folks out there need water and the water supply is coming from Britannia [water] filtration plant and this is the route it goes. By the end of November, this will be history and hopefully, a memory."

Meanwhile, police said they will be patrolling Woodpark and issuing tickets to motorists who speed or make illegal turns.