Faithful readers of the Mission City Record will have made note of the recent spate of letters to the editor/local politicians about Mission’s soundscape, with a focus on trains and the re-opening of the speedway.
My pet peeve is the volume of small aircraft traffic over the community, many flying at very low level and the almost constant drone of the planes from the skydiving centre either in a sustained circling climb or a rapid dive to reload.
We live north of downtown, near 7th Avenue. About 10:10 this past Saturday night, while watching television in our downstairs, I was startled out of my chair with an extremely loud noise. I rushed to open the door to determine the source of the noise, which appeared to be coming directly from the direction of the rail tracks. It was a continuous roar punctuated by huge explosions.
This being a rail town, my first thought was to wonder whether we were in the midst of another Lac Megantic; my second thought was that perhaps the high pressure gas line that runs through the industrial area had ruptured. In either case, I was rapidly considering our options for escape. Frankly, I was scared.
Suddenly the noise stopped and at a much, much, much lower volume, I could hear the PA announcer from the raceway bidding the customers a safe drive home.
Over the years, I have accepted the economic argument for the existence and even for the location of the raceway. I have even become quite tolerant of the summer-weekend noise. This middle-finger auditory finale was way over the top. Time to have a chat with these folks.
Don Chapman
Mission
