Noise prompts crackdown
Increased traffic, loud mufflers cause problems on
County Road 12
BY MEGAN BOLDT
Pioneer Press

Does your muffler pop, crackle or roar? Be careful if you're driving through Mahtomedi or Willernie. The two Washington County communities are sick and tired of noisy vehicles zipping through their downtowns. Law
enforcement officials have responded by being especially vigilant this month in cracking down on noise pollution from cars and trucks.

Mahtomedi Mayor Judson Marshall said the same road County Road 12 is the problem in both communities. He said residents of an apartment building along one busy intersection of the road in particular are suffering through the noise. "The mufflers just rattle the building," Marshall said. "Of course, this time of year is noisier," he said. "We have our windows open, so we hear it all. But something has to be done, and I'm glad the sheriff's department is taking this seriously."

The Washington County sheriff's office receives most of the complaints because it's noisier on weekends with the influx of bar patrons, Marshall said.

"There are lot of vehicles in town that don't belong to people here," he said Patrol Sgt. Dean Tilley said the Washington County department has been working on the problem on and off this summer. But the number of complaints about loud vehicles especially motorcycles is on the rise.

Some vehicles that are stopped don't have mufflers at all, which is against the law. Tilley said those violators usually get a ticket. Drivers might just get a warning if their exhaust systems need repair. "It's really at the officer's discretion," Tilley said.

Steven Fierro, owner of the Shore Club on County Road 12 in Willernie, said he thinks the noise problem is more due to increased traffic than noisy mufflers. Cars, trucks and motorcycles whiz by his business, treating the road more like a highway to Stillwater, he said. And it's loud. "It's an icky little thoroughfare," Fierro said.
These communities aren't the only east-metro towns trying to control noise pollution. Apple Valley police officers will be using a decibel meter to measure vehicle noise levels and ticket violators.

The Dakota County Highway Department also will place signs along County Road 46 warning that noise laws will be enforced.

IS VEHICLE NOISE EXCESSIVE?
According to Minnesota statute: "Every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order which blends the exhaust noise into the overall vehicle noise and is in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and no person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass, or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a street or highway. The exhaust system shall not emit or produce a sharp popping or crackling sound."