Citizens tired of noisy truck traffic

Summerside residents calling for ban on overnight truck traffic from Port Summerside

SUMMERSIDE – A group of Summerside residents is calling on city council to limit overnight activity at Port Summerside.

About a dozen people attended the June 2 committee of council meeting to express their frustration.

Those who spoke said that for years they have endured sleepless nights in their beds because of excessive noise caused by a stream of transport trucks, which are allowed to work 24-hours per day unloading ships at the port.

The most recent such night was May 17. That was a breaking point for downtown resident Kathleen Terry, who lives on Queen Street. After a night of lying awake listening to the trucks rumble past her window, she decided to address the issue directly with council.

“The very least we can expect in terms of seeing our interests and quality of life protected in return for our taxes is getting a good night’s sleep. Don’t you think?” said Terry, addressing council.

Terry and her neighbours have asked the city to restrict unloading activity for at least eight hours nightly. They submitted a draft bylaw to that effect for consideration.

Terry added that she has reached out to several other port authorities to gather examples of how they handle such situations. Most of those she has spoken with thus far have some kind of provisions in place to try and mitigate noise and light pollution; some had barriers in place, others had specific overnight periods when work was not allowed and some had specific noise complaint guidelines where residents could raise concerns.

They understand that Summerside is a working port city and people need to be able to do business here – but other communities have found an equilibrium between residents and ship-based industry and Summerside should too, said Terry.

“Other ports have protections in place. They have presumably found a balance between the rights of residents and the interests of business. We have not. Not by a long stretch.”

This is not a new issue for council. There have been complaints to individual councillors and the mayor for years and it has occasionally been discussed around the council table – but this is the first time, in recent memory, where a group of residents has asked to speak directly to the full council about their concerns.

Information provided to council in the past is that, unlike a deep-water port, access to Summerside’s harbour for large transport ships is based on the tides. This time constraint means the unloading of materials is done continually until it is finished. To do otherwise can mean exorbitantly costly delays for the companies involved if a ship is docked any longer than it needs to be.

After a lengthy discussion council indicated that it wanted a meeting set up between the parties involved, including itself, the port, the residents and the companies doing business through the port to try and come up with an amicable solution.

“I think we have to put all those options on the table, let calmer heads prevail and really try to work at this so we can find something that is win-win,” said Coun. Norma McColeman.

Terry said she is happy council is taking their concerns seriously and she looks forward to that meeting.