A resident living on Donaldson Drive in Grand Forks has noted the increasing congestion of idling trucks and speeding vehicles.
Carol Storrings has lived on the east side of Donaldson Drive for six years and pointed out that the issue is ongoing.
“You can smell the fumes through the house when the trucks or Greyhounds (busses) are idling,” she noted. “In the winter I understand, but I don’t understand why during the nighttime or whenever.”
Storrings noted that speeding trucks and the use of air breaks have been an issue and speeding cars are also a concern as well.
“They’ll stop right in front of my house to use their cell phones or write in their log or whatever and have their trucks idling,” she added. “I couldn’t get out of my driveway if I wanted to.”
Storrings said the idling lasts as long as 10 to 15 minutes, and occurs throughout the day.
Greyhound busses also have a tendency to idle, she stated.
Greyhound was contacted but did not respond as of press time.
“I know it’s industrial, but my side of the street is residential and the way the traffic and trucks drive up here, someone will get hurt and not just the deer,” Storrings concluded. “At nighttime, they’re in the parking stall across my lot and they’re there at 3 a.m. idling in the morning waiting to unload the containers down the road, and it’s not the noise that bothers me.”
In Grand Forks, the anti-idling bylaw states, “no person shall cause or permit a vehicle to idle for more than three consecutive minutes.”
The bylaw, No. 1836, notes that to “idle” means the operation of an internal combustion engine of a vehicle while the vehicle is not in motion.
