A disgruntled group of neighbours on a quiet country road in the MD of Bonnyville are angry and frustrated with the increasing amount of heavy truck traffic they say is severely disrupting their peaceful country lifestyle.
Neighbours Ruth Poirier and Lindsay Untereiner voiced their displeasure before MD of Bonnyville council last Wednesday, saying the amount of noise and dust caused by heavy truck traffic along an extended stretch of Dupres Road has become a serious problem for their families and numerous neighbours.
The dust problem has become so severe during certain times of the day when truck traffic is heaviest “it looks like a winter storm … you can't see a thing,” said Untereiner, following his presentation to council.
Heavy trucks are also tearing apart the road, said Poirier, as trucks travelling in opposite directions can't fit on the narrow road, often forcing one to slide off the road onto the unpaved shoulder or into the ditch.
Heavy truck traffic has increased each of the past three years due to a number of nearby gravel pits, said Poirier.
A total of 36 neighbours affected by the dust and noise problems have signed a petition asking council to do something to correct the problem, said Poirier.
Neighbours recently spent two days counting traffic on the dirt portion of Dupres Road and counted four dozen gravel trucks one day and over 100 on the second day. These numbers didn't include dozens of oilfield service vehicles and oil tankers, she told council.
During heavy rains in June and July, many parts of the dirt portion of Dupres Road became “an absolute mud bog” which made the road even more dangerous as heavy truck traffic didn't decrease at all, said Untereiner.
Even though the road is graded daily, it deteriorates badly within hours after the grader passes because of heavy truck traffic, he said.
“Truck traffic is ruining the road,” said Untereiner. “These truck companies have the same attitude as our MD (council) — the same MD council that is supposed to support taxpayers — the attitude that big business will always get priority over the little guy. This council will not stand up to big business and I'm sick and tired of it.”
A six-mile stretch of Dupres Road was recently paved and this has only attracted more and more heavy truck traffic, said Poirier.
Councillor Mike Krywiak said he's travelled on the dirt section of Dupres Road and agreed “it's in terrible shape.”
Reeve Ed Rondeau said council has approved using a different chemical compound to try and control the dust problem in the area.
Rondeau promised to send MD staff out to the area to look at the problem and make a report to council providing some possible solutions to the heavy truck traffic and dust control.
“We will look at this again … we want to see what we can do to address the problems,” he said.
Rondeau also promised paving the remaining four-mile stretch of dirt road on Dupres Road remains a priority.
“There's no doubt it will be rebuilt if we can get the money,” he said.
Rondeau also asked staff to talk with the trucking company managers to grade the road more than once a day if necessary to ensure the road is kept in better shape.
“We'll definitely have staff take a look at this and we will discuss this again,” he said.
The majority of problems are on the seven-km stretch of dirt road, where she and Untereiner and their families live, heading west towards the gravel pits, said Poirier.
Dupres Road was never approved as a transportation route for heavy truck traffic, but the gravel hauling companies use the road anyway as it provides a shorter route to and from Bonnyville, Poirier said.
“They use this route to try and save a few dollars on gas … it was never meant to be used as a transportation route for these trucks,” said an obviously frustrated Poirier, following her presentation to council. “There's another highway they were supposed to use, but they won't use it.”
The dirt portion of Dupres Road is in terrible shape only because of the daily heavy truck traffic, Poirier told council.
“This road is breaking down and it's becoming very unsafe,” she said.
Just last week, an overloaded gravel truck dropped a baseball-sized rock onto his wife's car, causing a large chunk of the windshield to crack and several hundred dollars in damage, Untereiner told council.
His wife was so upset, she pulled the gravel truck driver over and told him what had happened.
The driver's response was “this is a gravel truck you know” and it wasn't his fault and if she was really upset she could phone the police to complain, said Untereiner.
“It's this kind of attitude that upsets me the most,” said Untereiner.
The problem is so bad some neighbours are considering selling and moving away, he said.
“Our taxes keep going up and our property values keep going down because of the all the truck traffic and the problems they're causing,” he said. “There are numerous houses just covered in dust … at times you can't even see the windows because they're so covered in dust.”
The gravel trucks also run seven days a week, which again contravenes what was promised to neighbours by operators when gravel pit licences were issued, said Poirier.
“This has been a problem for three years now and it's just getting worse and worse,” she said. “It's really affecting our quality of life out here.”
Poirier and Untereiner both told council they have seen gravel trucks using the wrong side of the road on numerous occasions because certain portions have been ripped up so badly.
Poirier said she has been complaining about dust problems and increasing truck traffic near her home dating back more than three years and the problems are getting worse.
Untereiner agreed.
“We need something done today … we need something done yesterday,” he said.
The MD has an industry liaison officer who handles complaints from members of the public, but their complaint calls have not been returned Poirier said.
This upset Coun. Don Sinclair.
“We have to at least answer calls when people want answers … that's unacceptable,” he said. “When we get a call for help, these people at least deserve an answer.”
Sinclair believes “most of the problems” in the area could be resolved with more regular visits from MD water trucks and more grading of Dupres Road.
Following their lengthy presentation, Rondeau told Poirier and Untereiner their message has been heard.
“We get your message loud and clear,” he said.
