Has truck traffic and noise impacted the enjoyment of your Valley County, Idaho property?
As this construction season comes to a close, you are probably relieved this will mean the end of the heavy truck traffic on West Valley, Wisdom, and West Mountain Roads…….UNTIL NEXT SPRING!

Please join your friends and neighbors as we ask our Valley County Board of Commissioners to put an end to our neighborhood roads being used as an unrestricted truck route. Add you name to the prewritten letter (below), respectfully asking for some much-needed changes to our neighborhood road usage.
______________________________________________

Dear Commissioners:

We are requesting that the Valley County Board of Commissioners help to implement some needed changes to the seemingly unrestricted commercial vehicle traffic in residential areas of Valley County.

The neighborhoods in which we live have, in recent years, been overrun with short-haul trucks.  Most of these trucks are hauling rocks/gravel from commercial gravel pits located off West Mountain Road, Southwest of McCall. Their route takes them through or near several residential subdivisions (Broken Ridge Commons, Blue Jay, White Cloud, Blackhawk Ranch, Blackhawk Lake, Blackhawk on the River).

This is not simply a few trucks driving by our homes every day. We estimate well over two-hundred truck movements per day through our once normally peaceful neighborhoods. The commercial vehicle traffic begins before 6:00 AM and extends well into the evening hours, sometimes as late as 8:00 PM, Monday through Saturday from Spring until late into the Fall.

The increased frequency of truck movements is adversely affecting the quality of life for the residents on or near this route. The amount of nearly constant noise is maddening. Many of these commercial vehicles have unusually loud exhaust noise and use engine compression braking (jake brakes) in or within earshot of our neighborhoods.

The volume of truck traffic is also destroying the road surface. The rough road adds to the noise level as vehicles and trailers hit potholes or are forced to drive off the edge of the road to avoid them. This also creates a traffic safety risk as drivers are forced to deviate from their lane to avoid potential damage to their vehicles.

An additional hazard for motorcyclists and bicyclists is being created due to material spilling from overfilled trucks or trucks with defective tailgates and belly dump gates. There is evidence of this at nearly every curve on West Mountain Road.

We would like to see the following changes implemented so that residents along this route can, once again, enjoy the peace and tranquility that their properties once offered, and reclaim the safety of our county roads.

1. Lower the speed limit on West Valley and Wisdom Roads from 35 MPH to 25 MPH to help to discourage unnecessarily hard acceleration and abrupt braking.

2. Create an alternate, mandatory truck route utilizing Smylie Lane, for short-haul commercial vehicles over 26,000 pounds GVW to limit heavy truck usage on West Valley, Wisdom, and West Mountain Roads.

3. Make permanent repairs to the road surface of West Valley, Wisdom, and West Mountain Roads.

4. Amend Valley County ordinance (5-6-1: AIR COMPRESSION BRAKES) to include West Valley, Wisdom, and West Mountain Roads (or all county roads), followed by signage and enforcement.

We thank you for your support on this issue.

Sincerely,
The impacted residents of Northwest Valley County

_________________________________________