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Re: I've I've had that experience with Freeway noise and it caused a change in how we determine soundwall eligibility. It can be real... which is why we collect and analyze actual data.
Author: BOB2
Date: 09-30-2019 - 10:22
Actually, I too have had experiences with folks wanting sound walls on the 210 in La Crescenta, that lived up to a mile from the freeway.
Sound metering is specified to be done a certain distance from the freeway to determine eligibility for sound walls, and such readings, at that distance, often failed to justify the walls. It turns out that at that distance, the metering was being done "under" the direct line of the sound waves coming from the freeway. The same metering, done "up hill" from the 210, in direct "line of sight" from the source of the sound waves, was nearly 20 decibels higher, than the measurement at the previously specified distance, over a half a mile away from the 210. This segment of the 210 was, just recently I saw, finally awarded new sound wall funding.
The Gold Line authority built extensive sound walls on the Gold Line through South Pasadena, to make sure track noise didn't impact residents. This is especially noticeable as you approach and depart the South Pasadena Station, where homes are very close to the ROW. The interesting side effect, was that it also blocked the nearly 30% higher (than the highest LRT levels) decibel level from the Pasadena Freeway (despite that segment of the Pasadena Fwy. being in a trench) which folks had been living with for 60 years, without complaining.
The problems with sound are real, as is the problem with Nimby's making stuff up. Of course, if we use "science", rather than emotional rhetoric and the hallucinatory delusions of ranting mobs, to collect data properly, analyze it, and determine the nature and severity of the problem, it allows us to find real and often more cost effective solutions to those problems.
Sound metering is specified to be done a certain distance from the freeway to determine eligibility for sound walls, and such readings, at that distance, often failed to justify the walls. It turns out that at that distance, the metering was being done "under" the direct line of the sound waves coming from the freeway. The same metering, done "up hill" from the 210, in direct "line of sight" from the source of the sound waves, was nearly 20 decibels higher, than the measurement at the previously specified distance, over a half a mile away from the 210. This segment of the 210 was, just recently I saw, finally awarded new sound wall funding.
The Gold Line authority built extensive sound walls on the Gold Line through South Pasadena, to make sure track noise didn't impact residents. This is especially noticeable as you approach and depart the South Pasadena Station, where homes are very close to the ROW. The interesting side effect, was that it also blocked the nearly 30% higher (than the highest LRT levels) decibel level from the Pasadena Freeway (despite that segment of the Pasadena Fwy. being in a trench) which folks had been living with for 60 years, without complaining.
The problems with sound are real, as is the problem with Nimby's making stuff up. Of course, if we use "science", rather than emotional rhetoric and the hallucinatory delusions of ranting mobs, to collect data properly, analyze it, and determine the nature and severity of the problem, it allows us to find real and often more cost effective solutions to those problems.
