Residents urge county action on engine-brake noise and request small park at former trestle site in Bridgeland

Multiple Bridgeland residents addressed the Duchesne County Commission during the public-comment portion of the May 5 meeting to press for noise abatement and a small community park on county-owned land.

Resident Stanley Larson (identified in the transcript) said large commercial trucks frequently use engine brakes and operate with modified exhausts that lack mufflers, rattling homes late at night and disrupting sleep. Larson and other residents said they had contacted the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and been told certain approvals or applications must come from the county for engine-brake (jake brake) restrictions in rural-residential areas. They asked the commission to pursue the appropriate ordinance or application and to coordinate enforcement. The residents provided the commission with emailed materials during the meeting, which staff said they would review.

Residents also asked the county to consider turning a narrow county-owned parcel at the site of a former trestle bridge in Bridgeland into a small park with picnic tables and minimal maintenance (benches and a riverside fishing area). One resident said her husband performs occasional maintenance there to reduce fire risk and that the land is technically county-owned but not currently maintained.

Commissioners thanked the speakers, confirmed staff would look at the locations and said the county will compile a list of candidate locations to address noise complaints together. Commissioners noted that some enforcement authority and applications involve the state DOT (particularly on state roads) and that a county ordinance would be required where the county has jurisdiction; staff said they would follow up with DOT and provide a consolidated list of locations for consideration.