Open letter to Surrey council:
I wrote to you last year about the speed and noise of vehicles on North Bluff Road/16 Avenue, between 136 Street and King George Boulevard.
I regret to inform you that little has changed.
This stretch of 16 Avenue is mostly residential and includes a hospital, several schools, parks, play areas, single- and multi-home residences and an increasing number of retirement communities.
A recent study by the City of Surrey, at 136 Street and 16 Avenue, concludes that the average speed of traffic is 63/64 km/h, well above the posted 50 km/h limit.
This speedway, including heavy trucks, continues from 5 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week.
In fact, on Sunday, July 8, between 7:45 and 8:45 p.m., I counted eight heavy trucks passing through the intersection of 148 Street and 16 Avenue.
On Monday, July 16, I counted 20 heavy trucks passing through the same intersection between 3:15 and 4 p.m.
This assault continues every day.
It is unreasonable that residents should put up with heavy trucks speeding by at all hours and, at least once a day, using their engine brakes to slow down (contrary to the lonely prohibition road sign miles away)?
Along with the dangerous speed levels there is the cumulative effects on residents from the noise.
Speed, of course, closely correlates with noise, and residents close to 16 Avenue experience levels of 81.5 dB as each truck goes by (as measured by Accurate Audio.)
This is a widely recognized dangerous level to health and hearing.
The Province of B.C., Ministry of Transportation and Highways have a standard of 66.1 dB as the ‘trigger’ level for sound protection for new projects.
This unacceptable situation will only worsen as traffic increases, along with the planned population growth.
Minor mitigation will come from the eventual repaving 16 Avenue with new reduced noise surfacing and from a new generation of, slightly, less noisy buses.
But these do not address the main problems.
The city has the responsibility to do as much as is reasonable to protect its residents from harm.
The city has jurisdiction and responsibility to improve the road design, install better signage and enforce speed limits, amongst other actions.
Other jurisdictions have implemented speed and noise reduction programs in residential areas. Why not here?
Much could and should be done, immediately.
Paul Brinton, Surrey
