PUT A STOP TO NOISE

Relief is at least several months away, but it’s encouraging that city politicians are once again turning their attention to the excessive sound of motorcycles and other vehicles with noisy mufflers and other needless modifications that are an irritant to all but the self-absorbed owners themselves.

Calgarians are all too familiar with this unsettling side of the arrival of spring. We take great comfort in the return of longer days and the sound of birds singing as they make or reclaim their nests. Sadly, such calming, simple pleasures are marred by an equally predictable harbinger of the season — drivers who insist on making far more racket than is necessary to travel from Point A to Point B.

Some Calgary councillors have expressed interest in a test underway in Edmonton, where a new photo-radar-style noise gun is showing promise.

It’s thought the device could be automated to issue fines to too-loud users of public roads, including at nighttime, when the disturbance is particularly upsetting to residents trying to get a good night’s sleep.

Edmonton city staff will continue testing the equipment throughout the summer and return this autumn with a report on its success and advice on any bylaw changes that might be necessary.

“This is an incredibly common complaint that I hear,” said Coun. Druh Farrell of needless noisemakers. “When summer comes, and the snow is gone, and the streets are cleaned of gravel, you can just (hear) the noise increase from motorbikes and loud vehicles.

“They’re built to make noise, and it’s a major issue for Calgarians, so I’d like to look at what we can do to make it better.”

Good for Farrell, who will meet with the city’s bylaw officers to discuss the Edmonton experiment and try to determine if the technology could have applications in Calgary.

All communities have an interest in ratcheting back the noise of nuisance vehicles, but a solution has proven to be more elusive than first imagined. Calgary experimented with a highly touted noise snare in 2013, but just a single $270 ticket was issued during a four-month trial, and it was dismissed in court because of a procedural issue.

Its inventor said the solution was to simply update the city’s bylaws, but the test was abandoned.

“If the tech has improved, I’m all in,” Coun. Gian Carlo Carra tweeted earlier this week.

If the Edmonton trial proves successful, Calgary should embrace the technology and give residents a welcomed reprieve from one of spring ’s few annoyances.