East County homeowners relieved, frustrated with sound abatement options

From Linde Davis’ back porch, a view includes a picture-perfect pond with ducks and alligators. She sees golf carts zooming across the manicured greens of The Preserve Golf Club at Tara.

But at the back of the property, through a thick row of trees, there are flashes of movement, made by vehicles heading southbound on Interstate 75.

Her home is one of the closest to I-75 in The Preserve at Tara, and since she moved there in 2002, the noise from the interstate has steadily grown. 

Neither the state nor Tara Preserve’s developer installed a noise barrier, besides the trees meant to block the view of the roadway. Davis rarely has company outside because it’s too noisy.

“It’s a major problem,” said Davis, who now has her home for sale because she’s wanting to downsize. “It’s definitely hurting the sale of the house.”

Relief is coming.

Residents in The Preserve at Tara learned this month that the community qualifies for a noise barrier when the Florida Department of Transportation improves the intersection of I-75 and State Road 70 and widens I-75 between S.R. 70 and University Parkway.

The news however, is a two-sided tale that results in a less favorable outcome for communities east of I-75.

On that side, residents have the same complaint, but a different result.

Since moving to Braden Woods in 1983, Scott Veix has added waterfall features on the back porch of his home, purchased double-paned windows and situated an addition to his home in such a way as to shield his household from the noise.

“You can hear trucks changing gears while lying in bed,” Viex said.

His neighbor Dave Thinel uses an app on his cell phone to track and verify his traffic suspicions. If the roadway is too quiet, he knows there’s an accident somewhere that has vehicles backed up to a near standstill.

What neither can expect is for FDOT to build them a sound wall.

People on both sides of the issue  have been talking about the problem, along with solutions, or lack of.

Here is a sampling from those on both sides of the issue.

West side success

Tara’s Linde Davis isn’t alone in her woes about noise from Interstate 75. Fellow residents of The Preserve at Tara have been lobbying for relief for more than a decade.

“We’ve been waiting for this for 14 years,” said Darby Connor, a Preserve homeowner since 2003.

By 2007, the noise levels had gotten so bad that Connor organized a petition to FDOT for a sound wall to provide relief for about 250 homes.

“The state took noise studies and confirmed that the nose levels exceeded the expected normal,” Connor said. “They stated that, however, the state does not put up noise barriers for buffers on existing communities unless it’s widening the highway in those areas.”

Since then, it’s been a waiting game.

Some residents, like Davis, have almost become accustomed to the noise. Others haven’t.

“You hear trucks go by all day long. It’s terrible, and I’ve been here since 2003 and haven’t gotten used to it yet,” Jerry Guess said. “That tells you something.”

“It’s like someone running a vacuum cleaner all the time,” Kim Strub said.

Homeowners in The Preserve are pleased relief is on the way.

“It’s long overdue,” Guess said of the sound barrier wall. “I would hope it would be helpful. It couldn’t get worse.”

East side stalemate

Braden Woods residents Scott Veix and Dave Thinel know sound levels exceed the 66 decibel requirement, but that FDOT will not provide a noise abatement wall for the community for two primary reasons. 

First, the cost-per-home to build a sound wall exceeds the maximum of $42,000 per household set by FDOT guidelines.

Second, the homes are too far away from the roadway. FDOT engineers say that homes more than 300 feet from a noise barrier, like those in Braden Woods, do not experience noise reductions because the sound refracts over and around the walls.

The men are at a loss of what to do next. They don’t want to move. Thinel has received estimates for new windows and sliding doors with better, more sound-proof replacements, but costs are about $45,000.

“That’s a lot of dough if you want to at least get the inside quiet,” Thinel said.

River Club’s Traecy Brunner also finds the noise to be a problem — so much so that she and her family are considering putting their home up for sale.

“We like to enjoy dinner and barbecue on the porch,” she said. “When it gets so loud, we’d rather go inside. That’s a bummer. When it’s nice weather, you’d much rather be sitting outside and listening to the birds chirp. It gets so loud, it’s hard to have a conversation on your own back porch.

“I love our neighborhood. I love our neighbors,” she said. “But, the noise is so loud, we’re considering buying another house farther east.”

Brunner said it’s not fair for one side of the interstate to get noise abatement and the other not. If the sound wall isn’t cost feasible, then perhaps there could be another solution, such as improved landscape buffering.

FDOT does not offer landscaping as a solution because it has not proven effective. Hundreds of feet of trees and shrubbery would be needed, and the department lacks the right of way. It also cannot prevent development.

Veix said development of the River Club Plaza, home to the new State Road 70 Wal-Mart, resulted in the loss of forest that previously provided some noise buffer for Braden Woods and other communities.

“It’s the perfect storm against us,” Veix said.

PROJECT INFORMATION:

WHY NOW?

FDOT constructs sound barriers (noise walls) in conjunction with improvement projects. The state has advanced funding for the project at the intersection of State Road 70 and Interstate 75. The project includes widening I-75 between State Road 70 and University Parkway, so FDOT can evaluate noise levels at neighborhoods that will be affected. Construction for the I-75-S.R. 70 project is expected to start in late 2018.

FEASIBILITY

During a project development and environment study for a widening project, FDOT considered noise abatement for all noise-sensitive areas. Evaluation is multistep process. First, the project must be deemed to potentially change traffic noise levels.

Second, FDOT uses a computer model, the Traffic Noise Model, to determine which areas are impacted by traffic noise and the effectiveness of a noise barrier to reduce noise. This model projects noise levels after construction. Current noise levels are taken at selected areas along the project to validate the computer model.

If a project meets sound and “cost reasonable” requirements, a noise barrier wall will be constructed with the roadway improvements.

The optimum height of a barrier varies related to residences position to the roadway.

THE ‘SHADOW’ ZONE

FDOT engineers say sound walls only benefit homes within the first 300 feet or so from the barrier. The area is called the “shadow zone.” Homes farther away receive negligible benefits because the noise refracts over the top of the barrier.

WHO QUALIFIES?

Noise volumes at impacted residences must be at or exceed 66 decibels.

Barriers must result in a reduction of 7 decibels at at least one site, and a minimum of 5 decibels at at least one additional site.

Additionally, the project must prove “cost reasonable,” with a cost per home of no more than $42,000.

FDOT cannot evaluate noise levels and sound walls for residences that have been permitted for construction after a project’s date of public knowledge. Local governments are responsible for compatible land-use planning, requiring buffers and other options that may help abate noise.