I-75 noise wall would skip one community while covering others. Neighbors say that’s not fair
Residents of the new neighborhoods along Interstate 75 want a noise wall to cushion against growing traffic noise from the highway.
For the most part, the neighborhoods on the west side of I-75 from Creekwood, north of State Road 70 to Tara and other neighborhoods to the south, are getting them.
But University Place is an exception.
A Florida Department of Transportation map with the schedule and location of noise walls, shows that when the wall comes to University Place, it will jump across to the opposite side of the interstate, shielding, instead, the Willowbrook community.
That segment of noise wall, the last planned north of University Parkway, is scheduled for construction in January.
Why not, residents ask, give both communities a noise wall?
“The interstate is becoming a 10-lane highway. It’s like the state dropped the ball at the 10-yard line, and declared a touchdown, whereas you can see there is a whole section of the I-75 corridor that is not included in the sound wall,” said Lissa Pygott, one of the directors of the University Place homeowner association.
“We would like them to reconsider and extend the wall before it costs taxpayers more down the road. FDOT has said it won’t happen. We’re fighting for it to rectify to situation. We feel that the original study was short-sighted and has flaws in it,” Pygott said.
Road noise grows loudest near along a berm built by the developer to shield the community from I-75. It’s easy for a conversation to be drowned out there by traffic noise.
Lauren Wilson, president of the homeowners association and who also has a seat on the University Place Community Development District, said it is only fair that her neighborhood get the same noise protection as others nearby.
“The efforts advocating for a sound study go way back. We only want to make our community better,” Wilson said.
In the 15 years that Pygott has lived in the community of 403 homes, she said residents have expected that the state would build a noise wall, she said.
The state conducted a noise study and concluded that University Place did not qualify for a noise wall, said resident Donna Mulig.
“We have a prevailing east wind here and when it comes, the traffic noise roars,” Mulig said. “We have been working on this for like 11 years, on and off. And DOT has said we’re not part of the original plans. We don’t understand that when we see all the amazing projects going on. Why wouldn’t they want to finish this and do the right thing by us?”
It’s not just the homes in University Place that are affected, residents said. Other communities dealing with the same noise pollution include Savannah Preserve, Carolina Landings, Sabal Bay and University Park.
Asked for comment on the University Place noise wall, Brian R. Rick, an FDOT communications specialist, said in an email that a study, including a noise analysis, for the I-75 corridor in Manatee and Sarasota counties was completed in December 2011 and a subsequent design-phase noise study for this project was completed in November 2017.
“To be considered for noise abatement, a noise barrier must reduce noise at one home at least seven decibels and reduce noise at a second home at least five decibels. In addition, per federal regulations, a barrier must also found to be ‘cost reasonable’,” Rick wrote.
A home, known as a receptor, must receive a five decibel reduction from a noise barrier to be considered a “benefited receptor”. The cost of the noise wall, using a standard construction estimate of $30 per square foot, cannot exceed $42,000 per benefited home.
If a noise wall does not benefit enough homes (the density of the homes being benefited is too low relative to the size of the wall), it will not meet that $42,000 per benefited receptor ratio.
Rick cited a berm along much of University Place and a wall near the southern end of Indigo Ridge Terrace. As a result, only two homes were found to be impacted by noise levels that exceeded FDOT/Federal Highway Administration standards for residential properties, he said.
Because the berm already exists and is shielding the community from noise, a lengthy high barrier — 4,903 feet long and 22 feet high — would be needed to provide those two impacted homes with FDOT’s requirement of a seven-decibel noise level reduction at one home and a five-decibel reduction at a second.
With that barrier, a total of 15 homes — the two impacted homes and 13 additional homes — would receive a 5 decibel “benefit”; however, the cost per benefited home would be $215,732, which is far above the $42,000 ratio. Therefore, a noise barrier was not found to be cost reasonable at this location, Rick said.
Also addressed in Rick’s response were Carolina Landings, Savannah Preserve, University Park, which are all 2,400 or more feet from the interstate, making them ineligible for noise abatement.
FDOT left the door open for the possible addition of a noise wall along University Place.
The I-75 Managed Lanes study for I-75 from the Bradenton area to Naples is now underway. The study for I-75 Managed Lanes will reexamine noise impacts along the entire corridor.
The study can be followed at https://www.swflinterstates.com/.
This story was originally published November 4, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
