Document text
Ashland considers stopping truck and bus idling By TONY BOOM Mail Tribune ASHLAND - The city may turn off idling tour bus and truck engines, ending the noise and pollution that tends to bother residents and tourists. An ordinance that sets a three-minute limit on idling will be considered by the City Council on Tuesday. Complaints usually focus on tour buses that bring visitors to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival downtown. "Several council people indicated they noted a great deal of (idling) happens," said Jim Olsen, city engineer. Traffic safety commissioners reviewed the issue and a draft ordinance earlier this month. City Attorney Paul Nolte subsequently revised the draft. Rules would apply to both diesel and gas engines in trucks that exceed 12,000 pounds and buses that carry 15 or more passengers. The ordinance would apply citywide. Police could issue citations for violations. Emergency vehicles and those running engines to power equipment are exempted. Ordinances from Vancouver, Wash., and Carmel, Calif., were used as models to prepare the Ashland's version, said Olsen. Diesel engine manufacturers prefer that idle time be kept to a minimum to avoid fuel waste, said Javier Lopez, service manager for DSU Peterbilt & GMC Truck Inc. of Phoenix. Drivers leave engines running for longer periods for heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer, he said. "The thing that brings tourists to Ashland isn't just the theater and the hills and skiing. It's the ambience of the downtown," said planning Commissioner Colin Swales. "If there's huge, great buses spewing out fumes, it detracts from that ambience." Besides pollution, Swales and others are concerned about bus parking. A few commercial bus-parking spots are on Lithia Way and Pioneer Street two blocks from the theater. A designated loading zone is on Pioneer one block from the theater. But Swales said he regularly sees buses discharging passengers on Pioneer right at the theaters, and parking downtown or in Lithia Park. Oregon Shakespeare Festival sends a map of parking options to tour operators and visiting schools. The city has prepared a revised map that notes bus parking isn't allowed in the downtown business district and Lithia Park. But there's no enforcement. "We are in complete support of the ordinance on idling," said Paul Nicholson, Oregon Shakespeare Festival executive director. "We are happy to have the new map." Parking beside the Black Swan Theatre was eliminated last year. Nicholson said he's seen a reduction in buses coming up Pioneer Street since the effort at improved communication began. "The Traffic Safety Commission and the City Council and OSF recognize that buses are a good thing. They are an efficient way of getting a lot of people here while reducing the parking requirements," said Nicholson. "It's important that we don't make it difficult for them to come. "Maybe we could find a place in town where all of the buses can park, with services to drivers that meet their needs," said Councilwoman Cate Hartzell. "It's not at all about trying to eliminate the use and efficiencies of buses." Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.