Yuck...
Woman's work for sound wall pays off for her neighbors
By Jessica Bock
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/05/2006
LAKE SAINT LOUIS
Sharon Raup was willing to do a little legwork to reduce the highway noise near her Lake Saint Louis home.
She exchanged phone calls and e-mails with the Missouri Department of Transportation and surveyed residents in her neighborhood about whether they wanted a sound wall, which provides a barrier between houses and highway traffic.
Her research and time paid off - for her neighbors down the road.
MoDOT studied Raup's neighborhood to determine which houses fit the criteria required for the construction of a sound wall. Residents in 13 homes met the cost and sound reduction requirements. Raup, however, was not one of them.
"It's nice that part of the people will get a sound wall," said Raup, 53. "But, of course, I'm depressed. Here I do all this legwork, and I'm not going to get one in front of my house."
Raup lives between Deloire Drive and Lake Saint Louis Boulevard near Interstate 70, where MoDOT added a lane to accommodate traffic in 2004.
"Over the years, it's gotten much louder," said Raup, who has lived on Harbor View Drive for 13 years. "We have a lot more truck traffic."
Because the lane had been added, MoDOT agreed to study the area.
Residents are eligible for a sound wall at their home if noise levels are 66 decibels or more after a new construction project, said Jim Gremaud, MoDOT area engineer for St. Charles County.
By comparison, 70 decibels is equal to the sound of a vacuum cleaner 10 feet away. A sound wall must reduce the noise by at least five decibels, benefit more than one homeowner, and the majority of the residents in the area must be in favor of a wall before MoDOT will construct one, he said.
MoDOT officials are evaluating exactly where the wall will be placed, possibly next summer, but one thing is for sure: It won't be in front of Raup's house.
Gremaud said he is confident that the area was thoroughly evaluated, but Raup says that another study should be done at her home because it just narrowly missed the five-decibel reduction requirement.
"I'm looking for them to do a re-evaluation at a different time of the day," Raup said. "They were out there at 2 p.m. Traffic is not as heavy or as fast."
No additional evaluations of Raup's home are planned, Gremaud said.
The sound wall will go near a duplex Mike Miller owns on Bayside Court. Although the highway noise never has stopped a renter from leasing, he's glad to get a sound wall on the property.
"I think it's a great idea. That highway never shuts down. It's a busy son of a gun," said Miller outside his property Friday afternoon, shouting a bit above the sound of traffic that barreled by on the highway. "It's always like this."
A design for the wall is not complete, but it likely will be broken into four segments and run along the south outer road of I-70 from Deloire Drive, extending for about a half-mile, transportation officials say.
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Woman's work for sound wall pays off for her neighbors
By Jessica Bock
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/05/2006
LAKE SAINT LOUIS
Sharon Raup was willing to do a little legwork to reduce the highway noise near her Lake Saint Louis home.
She exchanged phone calls and e-mails with the Missouri Department of Transportation and surveyed residents in her neighborhood about whether they wanted a sound wall, which provides a barrier between houses and highway traffic.
Her research and time paid off - for her neighbors down the road.
MoDOT studied Raup's neighborhood to determine which houses fit the criteria required for the construction of a sound wall. Residents in 13 homes met the cost and sound reduction requirements. Raup, however, was not one of them.
"It's nice that part of the people will get a sound wall," said Raup, 53. "But, of course, I'm depressed. Here I do all this legwork, and I'm not going to get one in front of my house."
Raup lives between Deloire Drive and Lake Saint Louis Boulevard near Interstate 70, where MoDOT added a lane to accommodate traffic in 2004.
"Over the years, it's gotten much louder," said Raup, who has lived on Harbor View Drive for 13 years. "We have a lot more truck traffic."
Because the lane had been added, MoDOT agreed to study the area.
Residents are eligible for a sound wall at their home if noise levels are 66 decibels or more after a new construction project, said Jim Gremaud, MoDOT area engineer for St. Charles County.
By comparison, 70 decibels is equal to the sound of a vacuum cleaner 10 feet away. A sound wall must reduce the noise by at least five decibels, benefit more than one homeowner, and the majority of the residents in the area must be in favor of a wall before MoDOT will construct one, he said.
MoDOT officials are evaluating exactly where the wall will be placed, possibly next summer, but one thing is for sure: It won't be in front of Raup's house.
Gremaud said he is confident that the area was thoroughly evaluated, but Raup says that another study should be done at her home because it just narrowly missed the five-decibel reduction requirement.
"I'm looking for them to do a re-evaluation at a different time of the day," Raup said. "They were out there at 2 p.m. Traffic is not as heavy or as fast."
No additional evaluations of Raup's home are planned, Gremaud said.
The sound wall will go near a duplex Mike Miller owns on Bayside Court. Although the highway noise never has stopped a renter from leasing, he's glad to get a sound wall on the property.
"I think it's a great idea. That highway never shuts down. It's a busy son of a gun," said Miller outside his property Friday afternoon, shouting a bit above the sound of traffic that barreled by on the highway. "It's always like this."
A design for the wall is not complete, but it likely will be broken into four segments and run along the south outer road of I-70 from Deloire Drive, extending for about a half-mile, transportation officials say.
MORE
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument[/b]
