Resident urges Mercer County to seek 'Jake Brake' signs as county staff warn ordinance and mapping needed

A county resident told the Mercer County Commission that trucks using engine brakes on a downhill stretch of Highway 200 rattle nearby houses and asked the commission to pursue signage and enforcement.

Greg Hoffner, who said he lives on Highway 200, described repeated incidents of heavy trucks and altered mufflers that “rattles the windows” and said the noise disturbed neighbors including a hospital-shift worker next door. “They're cranking their jake brakes all the way down the hill into town,” Hoffner told the commission, urging signs or other action.

County staff and commissioners responded that North Dakota Department of Transportation policy requires a county ordinance and a precise map showing sign locations before DOT will place and help enforce Jake-brake signs. A county staff member told the commission, “First, you're gonna need—you need to map it,” and offered to gather mapping information to draft ordinance language for future consideration.

Why it matters: Commissioners noted enforcement is difficult and that signage often functions as a deterrent rather than a guaranteed compliance tool. Commissioners and staff also flagged precedent concerns: opening a signage program in one area could prompt requests elsewhere in the county.

What’s next: Commissioners asked Hoffner and other residents to supply maps of affected locations; staff said they would compile the locations and return with a proposed ordinance and a routing plan to coordinate with any city jurisdictions and DOT.