JAY — Selectmen decided Monday to ask local and state police to ramp up
patrols in the Bean’s Corner area to curb excess noise from truck exhaust systems.

The board agreed with the state that installing signs to limit engine
brakes are unenforceable and a safety liability. The state won’t
install them, town highway foreman John Johnson said, but they’ve left
it up to the towns to install them if they want.

Selectmen said they are hesitant to start installing traffic signs on
state roads, which according to Johnson would be a first for the town.
Some even thought the signs would prompt more loud noise or that the
signs won’t make a difference. They also said they do not want to start
a precedent of installing signs that are unenforceable. However, they agreed to see if law enforcement could increase patrols. If that does not work, they will consider possibly installing a sign, they said.

Chairman Steve McCourt also said he would try to contact troopers from the Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement to
see what they could do.

They also want to wait until the Legislature hears two bills addressing noise levels on roads.

Residents Richard Rowe and Don Macomber, who live near the Route
133 and Route 156 intersection, came to selectmen in November asking
that signs with the wording “Please limit use of engine brakes. Thank
you” be installed on the state roads. The noise is unbearable and occurs mostly in the early morning hours, they said.

The problem is not the engine brakes, McCourt said; it is illegally installed exhaust systems with straight stacks.

Selectmen directed Town Manager Ruth Marden Cushman to check on the
prices of signs. She told the board it would
be about $100 per sign for the proper size lettering, a 4- by
4-inch post for each, and installation.

More than 13 signs are estimated to be needed to cover entrances to the town.

Macomber and Rowe asked for some consideration on the problem.

Rowe said a blinking light, no passing signs and double-yellow
striped lines have stopped some of the problems at the intersection in
the past. It would not hurt to put up a sign to see if it would make a difference
with the noise, he said.

  Macomber said he was willing to let a sign be put up on the Livermore Falls end of Route 133 as a trial to see if it worked.

However, resident Al Landry, who previously said if a sign is installed
at Bean’s Corner, he would like one installed at his end, 
told selectmen he checked the area and there wasn’t a problem and even if a
sign was installed it would not make a difference.

“I’ve lived on Route 133 for 50 years. I’ve lived with the noise and
I’m going to live with the noise until I die,” Landry said. “I don’t
need a sign.”

 Selectman Amy Gould said she would rather buy a $500 decibel meter to
try and stop the noise than spend money on signs that probably
won’t stop the noise.

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