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Noise and safety concerns Milne won’t with loaded logging trucks run again C O M M U N I T Y
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M E D I A
Sleepless in Sooke and Shirley Pirjo Raits
Sooke News Mirror
It’s 2:30 in the morning and when most people are fast asleep and dreaming of who knows what, Al and Laura are being wakened by the noise of logging trucks gearing down and clanging along on West Coast Road. Al Wickheim and Laura Barker live about 300 feet from West Coast Road and they are fed up with being awakened in the middle of the night. This is nothing new, logging trucks have been hauling logs on West Coast Road for the last four years, but this year, it seems, the loads and the trucks are bigger and there is more of them. “They go by here as early as 2:30 a.m., sometimes 3:30 and most no later than 4 a.m. There’s a fairly steady stream,” said Wickheim. “We’re not talking one, there was 80-100 operators at one time.” Wickheim said the trucks are coming from Blueberry Flats and
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Al Wickheim and Laura Barker are being kept awake when logging trucks start their runs at 2:30 a.m. along West Coast Road. out past Shirley but he doesn’t know which logging company they are working or contracting for. “We’ve been talking to TimberWest and Western Forest Products and they claim responsibility for some,” said Barker. Wickheim said he understands the logging importance factor for the B.C. economy but he doesn’t feel the companies or truck should carry on business which is so disruptive to others. “We’re kept awake night after night after
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night,” said Wickheim. The couple has heard stories of people having to call in sick because of lack of sleep and tenant and B&B guests aren’t particularly thrilled by the early morning wake up call from the logging trucks. Betsy Lockwood, another West Coast Road resident, is a transit bus driver and lack of sleep is a concern. “If I’m over-tired what would it take for me to fall asleep behind the wheel?” she said. “They are still deadheading at 3 a.m. This is not a place for logging trucks
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anymore.” They aren’t complaining just because of the noise, they say there is also a safety threat on the road. “Everyone has had close calls,” said Barker. Wickheim cited two recent rollovers along Sooke Road and a lost load which, he said, “could have been hugely catastrophic.” Lockwood said logging 50 years ago was different and she thinks the trucks should be taking the circle route rather than through residential areas and through Sooke.
“It’s a danger, there’s going to be an accident,” she said. The long and winding road is the main artery between Port Renfrew and up-Island to the mills. Tourist traffic doesn’t necessarily recognize the threat from the logging trucks, said Wickheim. “The trucks though talk to one another and keep in touch,” he said, while the regular driver doesn’t have any idea of what is going on up ahead. He is especially worried about the trucks going through school zones. On Sooke Road there are two elementary school and a high school. Wickheim is a community coordinator for emergency planning and has concerns about the status and infrastructure of the roads due to the heavy loads. He said there is road degradation in many places which is worsening due to the loads and the trucks. “That kind of impact won’t cause a collapse but it will destabilize the road in the long term,” he said. They think truckers should move to regu-
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Cont’d on page A3
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A statment from Mayor Wendal Milne I will not be seeking re-election in the November election. I have chosen not to run for another four year term for a number of personal reasons. The job of mayor’s is not without its frustrations and the challenge of continually trying to bring members of council together on issues is sometimes trying. It took the first two years of the current term to have the District of Sooke in a position to move forward on a number of initiatives. While I am happy with the progress we’ve made, I don’t feel that I can give the position the attention it needs for four more years. I have made this decision with a great deal of reservation and soul searching, but feel it is best for myself and my family. I intend to lead council over the remainder of this term to ensure that things are in place for a new council to continue the
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District of Sooke Mayor Wendal Milne
many projects that are underway. Being mayor of Sooke has been a very rewarding experience that has allowed me to meet and work with many members of the community on a variety of issues, and I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done. It has reinforced for me what a great community we have, made up of so many people who do so much to make it what it is. I would like to thank the community, our great staff at the district and the majority of the council who have supported me during this term. Wendal Milne Mayor
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