When you decide to live outside of town or city limits, one of the many expectations is to be able to enjoy plenty of solitude and peace.
For numerous neighbours along a seven-kilometre stretch of Dupres Road, years of peace and quiet have been destroyed over the last three years due to an increasing amount of heavy truck traffic.
The truck traffic has been created due to the opening of several gravel pits in the area.
Neighbours Ruth Poirier and Lindsay Untereiner voiced their displeasure over the chaos that has been created before MD of Bonnyville council last week.
They said the amount of dust being caused by the heavy trucks is overwhelming at times. They also said the dirt portion of the road — six miles of Dupres Road has recently been paved — is being destroyed and is often unsafe and dangerous.
A total of 36 neighbours recently signed a petition detailing the problems asking MD council for help.
Poirier and Untereiner were visibly upset during their presentation to council and afterwards.
Can anyone really blame them?
As Poirier so forcefully pointed out, Dupres Road was never approved as a transportation route to and from the aforementioned gravel pits when MD council gave approval to license the pits.
Instead of using an approved highway route to get to and from the gravel pits, truckers are instead cutting across Dupres Road because it provides a short cut to the Town of Bonnyville and surrounding area.
As Poirier noted, they are using this short cut to “save a few dollars on gas money”.
The complaints made by Poirier and Untereiner and their neighbours shouldn't fall on deaf ears.
To their credit, MD councillors agreed to send out staff to the area to see just how bad the problem is and will discuss the matter further.
It's only common sense to suggest Dupres Road was never designed or upgraded to handle the ridiculous amount of heavy truck traffic now using the road.
If the trucking companies who are having their drivers go up and down this road dozens of times each day are doing so just to access a shorter route and to save a few dollars on gas, it's imperative MD council tell them this has to stop.
Put yourselves in the shoes of Poirier and Untereiner and their neighbours. No one could argue their quality of life is being negatively affected because of the increased heavy truck traffic.
They simply don't deserve to have their quality of life turned upside down because some trucking companies are blatantly disobeying the rules.
Poirier and Untereiner urged MD council impose their influence and ensure these trucking companies obey the rules and quit making life miserable for neighbours who continue to see their taxes go up and property values decrease as a direct result of the heavy truck traffic.
The almighty dollar must not always reign victorious. It's now up to MD council to do the right thing and make sure the life of peace and solitude these people deserve can resume by getting these heavy trucks off Dupres Road once and for all.
