To appease Beacon Hill residents who say newly installed audible crossing signals for blind pedestrians are keeping them awake at night, the Boston Transportation Department altered the machines by turning down their volume, which has turned up the ire of blind advocacy groups.

About 20 people called to complain about the signals’ chirping sound immediately after their installation in early September, said Beacon Hill Civic Association Executive Director Suzanne Besser. She said the calls were mostly from residents in apartment complexes at the corner of the busy intersection of Beacon and Charles streets.

“It wasn’t just keeping people awake at night,” Besser said. “It was also keeping their dogs and cats awake.”

The two-toned chirping signal was installed at 10 locations in Boston after Labor Day to assist the blind in crossing busy intersections, said Massachusetts Association for the Blind Director Meg Robertson There are 52 registered blind residents living in the zip code, she said.

The audible signals emanate from speakers on top of cross-signal poles while new technology adjusts the signal’s volume to not exceed the noise of the traffic, according to The Beacon Hill Times.

The BHCA contacted the Mayor’s Office and the City Council to amend the problem a day after the complaints were received, Besser said, adding engineers from the BTD adjusted the signals within a week so that the crosswalks only chirp when someone pushes the button on the signal to request to cross.

Besser said the chirping could be heard from three blocks away before the volume was reduced. BTD Community Affairs Director Jim Mansfield said the chirping crosswalks were a concern for Beacon Hill residents who said they have been deprived of their sleep.

“It was beeping on its own in the middle of the night, which is something it should not have been doing,” he said.

Bob Hachey, the president of the Bay State Council for the Blind, said lowering the volume of the signals significantly limits the blind’s mobility because people unfamiliar with intersections have difficulty finding the button that activates the audible signal and sometimes accidentally venture into traffic.

“Drivers are getting more distracted on their commutes,” Hachey said. “Audible signals are absolutely necessary to help the blind cross complex intersections.”

Disability Law Center of Massachusetts Executive Director Stan Eichner said the complaints of the affluent Beacon Hill residents were addressed much quicker than if they were raised in the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

“If this had happened to the people in Roxbury, they would probably get a slower response,” he said.