Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Spring is revving up, and so too are complaints about loud vehicles and exhaust around the City of Howell.

Council met Monday night and heard from a couple of residents about both noise and speeding issues.

One resident with a new baby voiced concerns and said he understands the noise associated with truck traffic that can’t be avoided but it’s the loud motorcycles and vehicles with modified exhausts that are well outside of ordinance. He said every time one goes by they have to stop conversations and they’re looking forward to spring and want to have the windows open – noting they’ve done everything they can to try and mitigate the noise including using sound machines at night.

Another agreed the noise from vehicles is “awful and outrageous uptown”, and is usually accompanied by speeding.

Issues have been well discussed over the years by Council, and staff and members sympathize but it always comes back to enforcement as the noise ordinance and motor vehicle codes differ.

It was stated during the meeting that even lawnmowers and weed whips exceed noise decibel limits. It was further stated that it’s hard for the Police Department to dedicate resources toward something that is very difficult to enforce, and while not opposed, there are a lot of moving parts and it’s not only a question of how to enforce things but if it will actually stand up in court or potentially be a waste of time.

City Manager Erv Suida told WHMI they get several complaints throughout the year drivers about drivers with obnoxiously loud vehicles but especially more so as the weather warms up. He said it’s something they’ll strategize on with the police department to try and come up with a plan to address some of the vehicles that tend to be very loud through neighborhoods but again, it’s very hard to enforce.

As for speeding, the City has put up radar speed signs that display a vehicle’s speed to help alert drivers of their speeds and hopefully improve safety at different locations. It's also implemented different traffic calming signage.