Will There Be Sound Barriers For The Woodlands?

[pineda]

Very interesting story, particularly the part where the other engineering firms vetoed doing the flyover noise study, because it might contradict what Carter Burgess had already determined for TxDOT!

Houston Chronicle

[ricco67]

Aug. 31, 2004, 10:54PM

The Woodlands awaits results of noise study

Glen Mill group says flyover sound will trigger barrier

By CHARLIE BIER

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

The final results of a noise study, requested for months by residents of the 300-plus homes Glen Mill neighborhood in the village of Grogan's Mill in The Woodlands, should be ready by early next week.

Bob Bruce, a spokesman for the Houston-based CSTI Acoustics firm conducting the study, said the results should be complied no later than Tuesday.

John Rutledge, assistant general manager for the Community Associations of The Woodlands, last week told The Woodlands Community Association officials are awaiting the results from the acoustics engineering firm before they can relay them to residents.

The study was done to gauge noise levels that will be produced with the completion of the southbound flyover project from Woodlands Parkway to Interstate 45.

"After far too many months of no progress, we're making excellent progress. The basic report has been done and a preliminary report is being (prepared)," Rutledge said.

Sound concerns

Some Glen Mill residents had lobbied for the study, citing concerns about an increase in noise after completion of the ongoing $2.8 million southbound flyover project near the intersection of I-45 and Woodlands Parkway.

Residents fear noise generated when that project is complete, along with existing noise from the interstate and a northbound flyover already linking traffic exiting the interstate and entering Woodlands Parkway, will decrease their quality of life and hurt property values.

Attempts to secure an engineering firm willing to conduct the study were stymied after at least six engineering firms vetoed taking on the project, claiming they feared it would contradict original noise studies done by Carter Burgess for the Texas Department of Transportation, ultimately freezing them out of referrals and contracts from the powerful state agency.

TxDOT also provided Rutledge with several leads to do the study. The WCA board contracted with CSTI Acoustics for a price ranging between $4,000 to $5,000 after eight months of thwarted efforts to find a firm willing to conduct the study.

The noise study will use findings from a computer-generated model coordinated with nearby I-45 as a base that measured noise levels that could be generated with construction of the flyover. Findings from an original study done by the engineering firm Carter Burgess in March 2003 will be used for comparison.

Now that the study has been completed, residents are hoping for favorable findings that could result in a noise wall, which TxDOT has already vetoed, in part because of interference with a number of businesses bordering the interstate. Still, residents are hoping test results will spark new possibilities for a noise wall, either from TxDOT or private funding.

David Novotny, spokesman for Glen Mill residents, said results should support Glen Mill residents' claims.

"We're fairly confident that it will come back saying a noise wall should be done. Then we'll take that on to wherever else we need to go to get it put in place," he said.

charlie.bier@chron.com

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

I don't think the connecter would have brough home values down that much, or the quality life. I guess that's just me then.

[pineda]

Woodlands Villager article

[pineda]

Woodlands set to ask for a wall at flyover

Association supports new study calling for barrier to be built

By CHARLIE BIER, Houston Chronicle

The Woodlands will use a recent study to press the state to build a sound wall to buffer residents from noise caused by traffic on the southbound flyover project from Woodlands Parkway to Interstate 45.

That's the stance of The Woodlands Community Association, which voted at a recent meeting to use results of a Houston-based CSTI Acoustics study to pursue "any and all steps necessary" to influence building of the wall.

John Rutledge, assistant general manager of the WCA, said the action means the WCA will "request the (Texas Department of Transportation) to undertake design and construction of the wall, based on our study."

Some residents have complained noise from the $2.8 million flyover project near the intersection of I-45 and Woodlands Parkway will lessen their quality of life and lower their property values.

Resident concerns

Residents began enlisting the WCA for help in securing a sound wall late last year after TxDOT originally vetoed the idea. The WCA, which began in earnest searching for a firm early this year, had trouble finding anyone willing to do the study after at least six firms declined. The firms cited fears of contradicting an original noise study done for the state by engineering firm Carter Burgess in March 2003 and possible loss of referrals and contracts from the state agency as a result.

Sound wall criteria

Arno Bommer, a consultant with CSTI, told the WCA board that noise analysis by the state typically considers several criteria when judging the impact of a project on a community, including noise levels, proximity to nearby businesses and cost of building a wall.

Bommer said walls can't cost any more than $25,000 per household.

"In the middle of the country, you might have a problem if you had houses every mile and you were trying to build noise barriers. In areas where housing is denser, it's easier to achieve that criteria," Bommer said.

Bommer said TxDOT normally builds noise barriers at the edge of where their project stops.

"In this case here, they've found problems with that, obviously because if they're running it right along the feeder road, they block access to the commercial facilities," Bommer said. TxDOT originally nixed a sound wall in part because of parking and access concerns for businesses fronting I-45.

Building a barrier

As a result, Bommer said a noise wall behind the businesses likely would be more feasible. Bommer also said since noise barriers typically work best when they are placed close to either the noise source or noise receiver, it would probably be ideal to construct the noise wall nearer the houses.

Bommer said CSTI used the state's original model, including dimensions for road placement, but changed the positioning of the potential noise wall when conducting their study.

"I got a copy of the noise model done by the state. I made minimal changes to it. I just moved the barrier to a new location," Bommer said.

Bommer said he thinks the results of the tailored noise study he did for CSTI will meet TxDOT's standards for construction of a noise wall.

"I think it's going to be fine as far as the state's concerned. It's going to meet all their criteria. We just need to get the location accepted," Bommer said.

Avoiding speculation

Rutledge said many factors would determine if a wall were built, and it was too early for him to give residents an estimated time frame.

"If somebody had asked me nine months ago if it was going to take nine months to get to this point, I would have thought that ridiculous. I would rather not speculate. I don't know what the speed of those projects are with TxDOT," Rutledge said.

Rutledge, however, said he is optimistic about getting state approval for a noise wall. "I feel by using as much of the original data that was used by the state and simply moving the wall to a new location, we can get the justification we're looking for. That makes our case stronger than if we had used data that they had not had available," Rutledge said.

Rutledge said results of the sound study have been sent to TxDOT.

"TxDOT has been made part of the process," Rutledge said. "We have not made a formal request, but we have afforded them the opportunity to look at the study," Rutledge said.

Moving ahead

Glen Mill's David Novotny, a spokesman for the 300-home neighborhood, said residents are anxious for the process to move along.

"Get the wall up so we can sleep and we can do things outside. Principally because we're the ones who are going to be impacted by having to look at it from our side. The people on the flyover and feeder street, for all practical purposes, they're not going to know it's there," Novotny said.

Novotny said he understands the wall has to be started before the flyover is completed, according to TxDOT policy.

Novotny asked for further help from the WCA in moving the process along. "We need your help in pushing this. You spent money on it to help us. We really appreciate that, but you need to follow through," Novotny said. Karen Baker, an area engineer for TxDOT's Conroe office, said TxDOT officials are evaluating the new information and no decision has yet been made. Baker did say if TxDOT were to build a noise wall, it would be a separate project not bounded by flyover deadlines.

The flyover is projected to be finished by Nov. 25. "It would not be part of the flyover project. It would have to be a totally separate project," Baker said.

Wall designs

Susan Vreeland-Wendt, a Woodlands Operating Co. appointee to the WCA board, asked what kind of aesthetic considerations would be factors if a sound wall were approved.

Bommer said different styles could be considered. Rutledge said the wall would be partially hidden by vegetation.

"Most of it is going to be behind an existing treeline. You may be able to see the existence of something behind that treeline when you're on Woodlands Parkway," Rutledge said.

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: So. Montgomery Co. News

This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/t...04/news/2821146

[bachanon]

Residents' sound wall hopes still alive

Discussions are ongoing about where to build buffer in Woodlands

By CHARLIE BIER

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

A potential wall to buffer residents from noise generated by traffic on the newly opened southbound flyover from Woodlands Parkway to Interstate 45 is still a possibility, but Woodlands officials have hurdles to clear.

Some residents in the 300-plus home Grogan's Mill neighborhood of Glen Mill have complained noise from the $2.8 million flyover project will lessen their quality of life and lower their property values. The flyover opened to traffic Dec. 18.

John Rutledge, Community Associations of The Woodlands general manager, said the issue is still where it was in early November, when he told the Woodlands Community Association board the Texas Department of Transportation had sent an encouraging letter reversing its original stance against a sound wall.

"The Community Associations are still in discussion with both (Montgomery County Precinct 3) Commissioner Ed Chance and The Woodlands Operating Co. to resolve the land ownership issue," Rutledge said.

Sound issues

Several overlapping issues will affect eventual placement and building of a sound wall, which the state highway department originally refused to consider based on findings of a March 2003 TxDOT-commissioned noise study.

A subsequent noise study commissioned by the Woodlands Community Association on behalf of Glen Mill residents found a sound wall was needed, prompting a September WCA vote to ask the state agency to reconsider.

The Woodlands Operating Co., however, holds the easement on the likely spot where a sound wall would be built.

Rutledge is now procuring design standards and specifications from TxDOT to present to the operating company and negotiating with the county to receive ownership of the easement.

"Right now, we're basically in the same place," Rutledge said.

Discussions continue

Alex Sutton, senior vice president of development for The Woodlands Operating Co., said the operating company will provide the land if it can have a say in the aesthetics of the wall and provided an entity can be found who will oversee wall maintenance.

Chance said the county won't build a wall, but has "agreed to take control of the wall as long as we have the real estate to put it on," he said.

Pat Henry, a director of TxDOT's project development base in Houston, likewise said the project's logistics are still in the discussion phase.

Mixed views

Some residents of the neighborhood have been vocal about the need for a sound wall. Others don't think the noise is enough to require a wall and the potential benefits of reduction in traffic sounds are blunted by aesthetic considerations.

Glen Mill resident Libby Kinder, who owns two homes along North Deerfoot Circle, said she fears her property values will decline without a sound buffering wall.

"I'm definitely for it. So much vegetation has been taken out, that the noise has just increased so much," Kinder said.

Glen Mill resident Helen Locker, who lives along North Deerfoot Circle near the new flyover, said she hears noise when outside, but it's pretty quiet inside her home.

Locker, whose property backs up to Woodlands Parkway as opposed to the flyover, said she empathizes with residents who are disturbed by interstate and flyover noise, but views noise walls as unsightly.

"I'm really not for the wall. I feel it would be unattractive. I just don't think it's necessary, but it sure may be on the side where people are living closer to it," Locker said.

Locker said she has noticed increased noise when she walks outside.

"It's not bad for me inside, but when I walk out in my front yard, I can hear a distinct difference," she said.

charlie.bier@chron.com

Link to article

[pineda]

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03/29/2005

Sound wall to reduce noice in neighborhood near Woodlands Parkway flyover

By: Burton Speakman

THE WOODLANDS - Plans for a sound wall to reduce noise from the flyover at Woodlands Parkway onto the southbound lanes of Interstate 45 is in limbo after the estimated cost of the project nearly tripled.

The cost of the sound wall has increased from an original estimate of $600,000 to more than $1.6 million, said John Rutledge, assistant general manager at the Community Associations of The Woodlands.

"This isn't going to make the group of residents that I've been in contact with very happy," Rutledge said. "I've been in regular if not frequent contact with TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) about the issue."

Residents of the Glenn Mill subdivision of the Village of Grogan's Mill wanted the wall to reduce the amount of noise they hear from the flyover.

The Texas Department of Transportation would build the wall, and the Woodlands Community Association would be responsible for maintenance, he said.

Municipal Utility Districts Nos. 6 and 36 have allowed use of their easements to build the wall.

However, TxDOT has not identified funds to build the wall, Rutledge said.

Former Grogan's Mill Village Association President Bruce Cunningham said residents should be concerned about the increase in the price estimate.

One criteria for a sound wall is that it cost less than $25,000 per residence that would be affected, and the increase may cause the project to surpass that threshold, Cunningham said.

At a price of $1.6 million with roughly 50 homes in the area, it would cost $32,000 per residence. The most the wall could cost, at $25,000 per residence allowed, would be $1.25 million.

The new estimate is based on what are expected to be actual costs after viewing the site, said TxDOT Spokesman Norm Wigington.

"The previous price was based upon previous construction in other areas," he said. "It appears we'll have to build culverts and reinforcements before building the wall."

Engineers are meeting with The Woodlands Development Company to determine what can be done before a final price is figured, Wigington said.

The project has not arrived at a point where financially it cannot be done, he said.

The Woodlands Community Association, which governs Grogan's Mill, paid for a study that determined the sound wall would mitigate at least the required five decibels of sound.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Ed Chance said this is not a project the county could receive reimbursement for under the pass-through toll program.

Burton Speakman can be reached at bspeakman@mail.hcnonline.net.

[bachanon]

Noise wall update.

link to story