Dear Editor: The recent protests around loud train whistles at night in North Vancouver highlight the escalation of noise on the North Shore, to the point where it is becoming a health hazard for all of us. Clearly, nobody is counting the cost of lost sleep and the constant stress of loud noise, and it's time to consider some alternatives. ¦ Train whistles When I asked Mayor Darrell Mussatto what alternatives there might be, he mentioned (with some alarm of his own) that it would cost $600,000 to convert each rail crossing. Kudos to him for at least putting a price tag on the issue - it seems that for a few million dollars, this nightly intrusion can be resolved. One has to feel sorry for the Squamish Nation, for the many years - generations - they have lived with this at point blank range.
Sirens The constant use of sirens is being reconsidered or abandoned around the world for many reasons. They have very little influence on accident rates or survival rates for patients, but the health costs to the general population enduring them are growing. New technologies using lineof-sight radio could limit the alarms to sounding in the vehicles within range of the EMS vehicles. Increasing the brilliance of vehicle lights is another way of improving safety noiselessly.
Heavy trucks Waste removal trucks are notoriously loud, banging garbage and recycling bins hard down onto their steel wheels, loudly beeping with every backup, engine roaring when compressing garbage. It's time to look at electric trucks, rubber wheels, and quieter backup beeps - it simply doesn't have to sound like a Tiger tank battle every morning. ¦ Car and exterior burglar alarms These are probably the easiest monstrosities to deal with - a bylaw outlawing their use and fines for their mindless screaming at all hours will find wide support in the community.
Compounding this cacophony is densification, because one garbage truck can wake up an entire condo complex at 5 a.m., one ambulance can intrude on 10 such complexes by simply driving by (on empty streets) at 3 a.m. in full cry. At some point some agency has to step in and say "Enough already - we can do better than this."
The North Shore has very little industry, there's no need for us to sound like Hell's Kitchen day and night. We could invite companies with alternative technologies to relocate to our area, give them tax breaks and bylaw support to test their calming approaches.
We might eventually be able to rest at night, and at last just hear the mountain.
Dwight Jones
North Vancouver
