In the open letter, Ghent also calls on transport federations to address drivers. It is true that it is a small minority of truckers who misbehave because the vast majority of truck drivers who drive over the viaduct every day do not participate in this action.

Read the full open letter here: 

The noise terror on the E17 viaduct in Gentbrugge has been going on for two weeks now. Incessant hooting at the loudest and longest, sometimes along the entire length of the viaduct. Some truckers even play entire melodies. It keeps people awake, it causes stress, local residents are gradually becoming desperate. People hear the honking up to more than a mile away from the viaduct, residents who previously had little or no problems with freight traffic.

Let's reiterate why the speed has been reduced from 90 to 70 for freight traffic before the Christmas holidays. Year after year, the E17 viaduct, which cuts a residential area in two, swallows more (freight) traffic. This entails a lot of noise nuisance for the neighbourhood. Even with the recent adjustment of the joints, the typical 'thumping' of trucks in particular remains very present in the surrounding streets. That is why we advocated temporarily reducing the speed of freight traffic and measuring the effect of this on the number of decibels produced. We fully understand that this speed limit requires truck drivers to adapt. But we do this for the quality of life of the people living near the viaduct. Local residents who, after years of banging, are now awakened by the honking.

To be clear, it's a small minority of truckers who misbehave. The vast majority of the 30.000 truck drivers who drive over the viaduct every day do not participate in this action. These are the few who disturb the precious night's sleep of thousands of local residents. People who have to go to work or school the next day. Healthcare providers who have just finished a heavy shift. Students who have to take exams. This is detrimental to their physical and mental health.

We therefore call on the transport organizations and trade unions to sensitize their members and transport companies to address their drivers about their behavior. The loss of time for truck drivers over the entire route is limited to a mere 35 seconds. This is peanuts on a route of often hundreds of kilometers. Keeping hundreds of children, families, seniors awake night after night is disproportionate. We therefore ask for respect for local residents and call for dialogue. Everyone deserves their night's sleep. Touching it purposefully over a long period of time is inhumane. To all honking drivers: your signal has been heard. Now let our children and other residents sleep, respect everyone's sleep, stop this action and let's talk.

Mathias De Clercq, Mayor

Filip Watteeuw, alderman of Mobility

Residents' group Viadukaduk