Instead of the sweet sounds of her harp, musician Lori Pappajohn is being drowned out by the sounds of trucks blasting by her home.
The longtime New Westminster resident said a "traffic nightmare" occurs outside the front window of her home on East Eighth Avenue every afternoon, when trucks and traffic make life miserable. In the past seven years, she's spent $10,000 to install eight panes of glass and soundproofing insulation in her home to make it livable, but it hasn't muted the sound of trucks.
"When that toll increased, it was absolutely unlivable," she said. "The cars and trucks were parked outside of my house every night."
Pappajohn isn't the only resident who has made sound-reduction measures to her home to make it livable, noting residents living near Royal Avenue have done the same. Trucks have long been an issue for residents on East Eighth Avenue, but she said it's only gotten worse since tolls were introduced on the Port Mann Bridge.
"We here on East Eighth are taking a huge hit of trucks going over Pattullo Bridge," she said. "There has to be a different option for them."
Pappajohn said she drives a lot and knows of no other residential street that is subjected to this volume of truck traffic within 40 feet of their homes.
Pappajohn's plight comes at a time when the city, TransLink and the province are releasing numbers about traffic volumes on the Pattullo Bridge and the Port Mann Bridge.
Blair Fryer, the city's manager of economic development and communications, said the city's traffic counts on Royal Avenue showed that truck traffic increased by 70 per cent, when compared from November 2012 to November 2013. Counts comparing December 2012 to December 2013 showed a 30 per cent increase in trucks.
"It is certainly showing a significant increase on Pattullo Bridge, including weekends," said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr.
TransLink recently released figures showing the number of vehicles crossing the Pattullo Bridge from January 2013 to January 2014 increased by 6,095 vehicles or 8.3 per cent.
Puchmayr said it is "mindboggling" to hear B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone attribute the increase in traffic on the Pattullo Bridge to the increase in B.C.'s economy, rather than the Port Mann tolls.
"I am troubled by that spin," he said. "What that tells me is they are denying the facts."
Puchmayr said the statistics also show that heavy truck traffic is up on McBride Boulevard, which shows they are using New Westminster to bypass the tolls.
Pappajohn said one only needs to stand at the corner of Eighth Avenue and McBride Boulevard during the afternoon rush hour to see the impact truck traffic has on livability.
"It's visceral," she said. "Your house should be a place of peace. It is constantly being invaded. Constantly."
New Westminster city council recently requested a meeting with Premier Christy Clark to discuss the city's transportation concerns. The premier's office left a voice mail with the mayor's office, stating the matter had been referred to the transportation minister's office.
