Noisy motorcycles a target for St. John's council

St. John's city council wants the Newfoundland and Labrador government to crack down on excessively noisy motorbikes, or at least tell council when it plans to act.

It's common to hear motorcycles roar about the city, especially if the owners have had the baffles — which are intended to reduce noise through the machine's exhaust system — removed.

Coun. Sheilagh O'Leary said such bikes are a major problem, including on the road leading to Cabot Tower on Signal Hill.

"People are really, really tired of this noise issue," O'Leary told Monday evening's council meeting.

"It's not necessary, it can be controlled and we definitely need to put the pressure on the provincial government to get a timeline going, and to figure out when we can get the legislation so then we can act upon these offences."

Calls for such a law to curb noise pollution are not new.

Deputy Mayor Shannie Duff said council wants "to bring this up on the radar again and see if we can get some serious timelines on when that legislation will be enacted, so we can do something about this nuisance."

Duff said government promised to look into the matter a year ago, but there has been no response so far.