Ingrid (who doesn't want her last name used) has lived near the Burnaby Mountain tank farm for about 12 years, but has never seen – or heard – anything quite like this before.
She calls it the “daily honking wars” as frustration from drivers has reached a crisis point.
The number of trunks coming and going from the tank farm has escalated dramatically during the past few months as Trans Mountain clears trees and moves earth as part of work on the site.
Couple that with a section of Broadway being closed to traffic over the past few months between Underhill and Arden/Lake City Way – due to the FortisBC gas line project – and there’s been a big increase in commuters driving past the tank farm.
These drivers are getting stuck behind Trans Mountain trucks and the frustration level has boiled over, Ingrid said.
“There’s so much more congestion,” she said. “It’s not the truck drivers, it’s the other drivers who are always honking. It’s quite disconcerting.”
Not that Ingrid is letting Trans Mountain drivers off the hook for their driving issues.
She is frustrated herself with an increase in noise as the trucks use “incredibly squeaky” brakes and/or engine brakes.
The truckers also drive too fast when they “burst out of” the tank farm gates, she said.
“The trucks barrel out of the terminal heading south on Underhill and they often end up driving onto the pedestrian sidewalk, resulting in an unacceptable risk to anyone on the sidewalk. I've witnessed it countless times and there have been tire tracks on the sidewalk.”
The NOW asked Trans Mountain about the situation and received an emailed statement.
“Although additional traffic can be expected on public roadways as a result of the Expansion Project, Trans Mountain employees and contractors are required to abide by all applicable traffic laws and regulations,” the company said. “Trans Mountain’s Traffic and Access Control Management Plan addresses provincial regulatory requirements and provides direction to Contractors regarding minimum requirements for maintaining safe work environments as well as minimizing traffic disruption to the travelling public.
“Trans Mountain and its partners are sensitive to the movement of commercial vehicles on all city streets and remain committed to public safety. Every effort is made to minimize the impact near residential neighbourhoods with this increased traffic. We are working with local law enforcement to improve road safety and will look into this complaint to determine whether improvements need to be made.”
The company asks people to check out its Traffic and Access Control Management Plan here: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/transmountain-craftcms/documents/TMEP-TACMP-June-1-2017-and-Appendices-A-2-to-F.pdf?mtime=20170828185815.
