Working to combat excessive road noise

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This article was published 01/12/2021 (548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Many constituents have been contacting me in recent months with concerns about excessive noise on Winnipeg’s major roads.

While illegal modifications, racing, or engine revving has been a problem for decades in various areas of the city, residents report growing concern in particular along our major highways and roads.

Residents along Bishop Grandin Boulevard, Fermor Avenue, Lagimodiere Boulevard, and other major roadways have been raising the longstanding issue again, and I’m committed to tackling it.

On Nov. 5, the public works committee, which I chair, adopted a new motion asking for city staff recommendations on how to tackle this problem by May 2022.

The City of Winnipeg and I have been working on this for some time and were thwarted by the province last year when the city was denied permission to put up automated sensors that would enable ticketing of obnoxiously loud vehicles.

Winnipeg Police do have the power to ticket vehicles, however the WPS is not directly overseen or directed on how to deploy its resources by city council.

Despite this setback, my colleagues and I, and the public service, have continued to press the matter forward.

We can also do more to proactively address these concerns when it comes to approving new development. We know based on existing communities that these problems are bound to emerge in the future. There are treatments such as berms and sound attenuation barriers that can be added pre-emptively to new communities. Those policies have not been updated since the 1980s and it is time we learn the lessons of recent decades as we plan for future growth.

Thank you to the many residents, businesses, city staff, council colleagues and community stakeholders who have come forward and come together to work on this problem together in the past and present.

I will continue to support this work and collaboration until the problem is resolved.

Matt Allard
St. Boniface ward report

Matt Allard is the city councillor for St. Boniface.

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