Naperville, residents at odds over sound walls

A group of Naperville residents is sounding off about proposed walls to block traffic noise.

The city wants to install 12-foot sound walls along the perimeter of Maplebrook subdivisions near 75th and Washington streets, but neighbors are unhappy with the height.

The city council, staff and residents spent 90 minutes debating the issue Tuesday without reaching a consensus.

The 75th and Washington intersection, which handles about 65,000 vehicles a day, is about to be widened to handle a projected 77,000 vehicles a day expected by 2025.

In June 2005, the council approved plans for 12-foot-high walls with "T-tops" for the Maplebrook I and Maplebrook II subdivisions, believing that was what residents wanted. Roughly 95 homes would be protected by the walls.

But bids to install the walls now are on hold because residents and staff members are at odds over several factors, the most prevalent of which is the height of the barriers.

Residents say they thought the 12-foot height was merely a starting point for further study. They want the walls to vary in height from 8 feet to 16.5 feet to offset differences in grade elevations and provide equal sound protection.

Don Dineen, for example, says the proposed location of the wall near his home on Bunting Lane would be more than four feet below road level, so a 12-foot wall wouldn't mean 12 feet of coverage.

"I'm going to have nine lanes of traffic outside my house," Dineen told the council. "I would like that blocked as much as you can provide. All I'm asking you is to treat me as an equal Napervillian."

But city engineer Bill Novack said a 2002 study found 12-foot walls would sufficiently block traffic noise in even the worst-case scenarios.

The city also believes the consistent height would be more aesthetically pleasing.

"There's a big difference when you have a consistent 12-foot high wall, even along rolling terrain, versus one that has heights that range from eight to 16 feet," he said.

He also said providing just one size wall would cost about $300,000 to $500,000 less. The wall project is expected to cost about $3.5 million and likely take two years to complete.

Some councilmen suggested the city seek bids on walls that would reduce noise by 9.5 decibels for all affected homes instead of specifying the height. Councilman Grant Wehrli also asked if the city could request bids for both scenarios.

The 12-foot walls are expected to reduce noise by about seven or eight decibels, Novack said. He said it would be difficult to set a target decibel reduction for all residents because some areas don't have baseline sounds high enough to allow such a drop.

He also said different height proposals from different contractors would then have to be analyzed for effectiveness and it would be like comparing apples to oranges. In addition, putting out two bid packets would take a great deal of time and effort and the city needs to get started with the project.

Councilman Kenn Miller said he doesn't want the city to spend more than the $3.5 million budgeted and he fears adding variables could result in residents not getting what they expect.

The council tabled the issue for up to a month. In the meantime, it asked staff to clearly mark where the wall will be located, talk to residents about allowing it to be built closer to their homes on higher ground, and investigate whether there is a simple way to request two types of bids.