Oak Park Heights Wants Jake Brakes Banned as Bridge Trucks Roar at 90 Decibels

Truck traffic rumbling off the St. Croix River bridge has turned into a round-the-clock noise problem for Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, where officials are now pushing to ban the loud engine braking systems known as jake brakes within city limits. Residents living near the Osgood Avenue intersection say the compression-release brakes used by semitrailers and dump trucks slowing from highway speed have been measured at 90 decibels, and the noise has only intensified this summer as Interstate 94 construction pushes more cross-border truck traffic onto Minnesota 36.

Joe and Doris Souter have lived in a townhouse just south of Minnesota 36 since 2010, and they now keep their windows closed because of the jake-brake noise, according to the Pioneer Press. Joe Souter identifies westbound truck drivers using engine braking at the Osgood Avenue intersection as his greatest concern, and he has said jake braking is optional and should be eliminated, the outlet reports. Wisconsin-to-Minnesota trucks run continuously through the night, and jake-brake systems work by downshifting the engine into a lower gear to help slow the truck, turning the engine itself into an air compressor that reduces wheel-brake wear.

Why the Noise Got Louder This Summer

The surge in complaints traces directly to construction on the Hudson Bridge carrying Interstate 94, where multi-year lane closures reduced the interstate to two lanes into October, according to 511 Wisconsin. That has prompted cross-state heavy truck traffic to bypass I-94 by using Highway 36 through Oak Park Heights instead. Mark Swenson has heard numerous complaints about jake braking on Minnesota 36 and said the state no longer prioritizes jake-braking enforcement and that there are no signs warning drivers, per the same Pioneer Press account.

The problem isn't new to the corridor. Trucks descending the bridge grade have been slowing down from 70 mph near the crossing, and an increase in the bridge speed limit from 55 mph to 65 mph did not help the jake-brake noise problem, the report notes. The $646 million St. Croix River Crossing opened to traffic in August 2017, connecting Highway 36 in Oak Park Heights directly with Wisconsin Highway 64, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The four-lane bridge was built to carry up to 18,000 vehicles daily.

No Detour Through Downtown Stillwater

Once the new bridge opened, the historic 1931 Stillwater Lift Bridge was restored and reopened in June 2020 as a dedicated pedestrian and bicycle trail bridge, eliminating any motor vehicle river crossing through downtown Stillwater. That leaves Highway 36 in Oak Park Heights as the only route for the heavy commercial traffic that state and county planners have identified as central to the corridor. A regional feasibility study commissioned by Washington County identified Highway 36 as a vital 27-mile arterial connecting the St. Croix Valley directly to downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.

That dual identity, a residential area layered onto a major freight corridor, is not new to Oak Park Heights. The city was platted in 1938 and incorporated in 1959, and its neighborhoods were physically bisected in the 1930s by the original construction of Highway 36, according to the Washington County Historical Society. Decades later, housing went up beside a highway that was already carrying regional truck traffic.

Health Stakes and the Osgood Avenue Flashpoint

The 90-decibel bursts residents describe are not a trivial threshold. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that prolonged exposure to sound levels above 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing damage, and that 90 decibels is comparable to the noise generated by heavy city traffic or power lawnmowers, according to the CDC. The Osgood Avenue intersection has also drawn scrutiny for traffic safety more broadly; Minnesota State Patrol recorded a major incident in June 2026 when a vehicle collided with a bicyclist crossing eastbound Highway 36 at that intersection.

Oak Park Heights officials say they need support from the Minnesota Legislature and the Minnesota Department of Transportation to act. The city council plans to ask state Sen. Karin Housley and state Rep. Josiah Hill to introduce legislation, and Stillwater officials have also reached out to Housley and Hill on jake-brake enforcement, per the Pioneer Press. Housley has said residents along Highway 36 deserve peace and quiet in their homes, and she supports installing signs that read “Vehicle Noise Laws Enforced,” telling the outlet she will introduce the necessary legislation next year.

The Sign Rules Standing in the Way

The obstacle is bureaucratic as much as political. MnDOT guidelines prohibit “Vehicle Noise Laws Enforced” signs on freeway-classified corridors, and communities seeking them on conventional state highways must first pass a municipal resolution committing to enforce state vehicle noise statutes, according to City of Oak Park Heights records. MnDOT officials have said legislative action is required before such signs can go up on state freeways like Minnesota 36, even though the agency also maintains that signs are not strictly needed for law enforcement officers to enforce existing state muffler and motor vehicle noise limit laws.

Minnesota Statute § 169.69 already requires every motor vehicle on public roads to carry a working muffler that prevents excessive, unusual, or sharp popping and crackling exhaust noises, a standard drawn from the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. Separate state rules, Minnesota Rules Parts 7030.1000 through 7030.1050, set maximum motor vehicle noise limits that cities incorporate into local codes to penalize un-muffled compression brakes. Federal regulations bar outright bans on the safety braking systems themselves, which is why local enforcement in Minnesota centers on unmuffled exhaust noise violations rather than the jake brakes as a category.

What Residents Want From Enforcement

Steve Hansen hopes semi drivers will simply use courteous driving behavior and avoid engine braking through town, but he has also said an ordinance paired with properly posted signs could assist both enforcement and driver education, according to the Pioneer Press. A Minnesota State Patrol spokesman did not immediately return the outlet's request for comment on enforcement in the area.

The jake-brake fight adds to a string of Highway 36 safety concerns this year. Hoodline previously reported on fatal bridge closures on the same span, and covered how I-94 shutdowns routinely push traffic onto this same stretch of Highway 36. For now, Oak Park Heights residents are left waiting on a legislative session and a sign policy to catch up with a truck detour that arrived long before either did.