Context: I live in Suburban Auckland (North Shore to be exactish); approx 2km from Motorway, on a normal Auckland suburban street (not a culdesac)

During Level 4 lock-down there was a real quiet over the suburbs...you could hear bike tyres go down the street, birds chirping in the bush next to the house and kids playing quite some distance away. 

It was quite a pleasant experience and I have to say, I started to really enjoy the lack of sound pollution. 

Fast Forward to today: 1st day of schools going back, second day of level 3. 

The noise that has suddenly infiltrated the air this morning is incredible. A constant hum from the motorway, cars going up and down our street and those adjacent. Construction on a nearby motorway extension project. Trucks. Cars. Buses. 

It's like the world switched back on all of a sudden. 

As nothing has really changed for me, because I am still working from home and the kids are attending online classes and my wife is still working at home, it's been quite jarring...nothing changed here, but it feels like everything changed "out there". 

Anyone else noticed this, or affected at all by the return of traffic and noise?