SUN CITY – Residents of Neighborhood 35 in far south Sun City knew they would be close to the Jane Addams I-90 Tollway when they bought their homes. Until this past summer, the audible traffic noise didn’t bother them.
Then came the Illinois Tollway Authority’s project to widen the roadway from Chicago to Rockford and Route 47 interchange work, and everything changed.
“We knew the roadway was there, but we didn’t know the noise would soon come into our backyards, patios, and inside our homes,” Diane Novak said.
Residents meet with representatives from the Tollway Authority to discuss noise disturbance from I-90 traffic. (Photo by Mason Souza/Sun Day)
Novak is the neighborhood representative for 35 and has become the unofficial leader of a frustrated group of residents. They have asked the Tollway Authority to erect sound barriers between the tollway and their homes, which are located on the southern-most edge of Sun City, along the north side of James Dhamer Road.
Residents say the noise increased significantly when the widening of I-90 began earlier this year. One resident complained that construction removed natural barriers, making the sounds worse, turning their back patios and sunrooms into noisy environments.
“The noise has become a constant topic of conversation in our neighborhood and some nearby, and it often is so loud it interrupts normal conversations,” Novak said.
She spoke to a group of about 60 residents, most of them from Neighborhood 35, who attended a meeting in Drendel Ballroom on Thursday, Dec. 13. Representatives of the Tollway Authority and two of its consulting firms were on hand to explain the Tollway’s methods of dealing with noise abatement.
After close to 90 minutes of discussion, the residents went home without a sound barrier approved, but were determined to continue pursuing their cause. They were told that a noise abatement study this past summer revealed that Sun City is too far away from the I-90 roadway to qualify for any noise barriers, such as walls or berms.
“I appreciate that they came to talk to us, and I understand what their standards are for approval of noise abatement, but this isn’t the end of it; this isn’t going to stop here,” Novak said.
Shelly Goldberg, another N.35 rep, said a letter will be sent to the executive director of the Tollway Authority, a move that was suggested by Bryan Wagner, an ITA representative at the meeting.
Jamie Bents of Huff & Huff, an ITA consulting firm, outlined the engineering and scientific standards used to measure traffic noise on roadways and the criteria used to approve the erection of barriers. She said a study done by her firm this past summer of 17 locations along the tollway in and around Huntley revealed only one qualifying home, a farmhouse located within 200 feet of the roadway and about 700 feet south of the nearest Sun City homes.
“I’m sorry. I know how you feel, but our analysis used federal and recognized industry standards to measure noise levels,” she said. “Locations within 200 feet usually qualify because the noise is higher than 66 decibels, the threshold we use for determining harmful noise. Sun City homes are about 900 feet back from the roadway, and the noise there measures 61 to 63 decibels, and that puts them beyond the range to qualify for sound abatement.”
Bents added that barriers also must be cost-effective (maximum cost per location is about $30,000) and reasonable. Factors such as traffic volume, the composition of traffic (trucks, buses, etc.) and topography in the area are all taken into consideration.
Many residents criticized the ITA for making only one test, and they asked if additional tests could be conducted.
“It offends me that you made only one test; you should make several tests over time and under various weather and wind conditions,” said one resident, who said she moved in just two weeks ago.
“The noise is different now than it was last summer, when berms and vegetation [were present],” a resident said.
Another resident asked ITA officials to actually come to the area and listen to the traffic sounds.
“You have to be there to understand our problem,” he said. “It’s only going to get worse.”
Another resident asked if an independent test could be conducted by residents and submitted to the ITA.
“You’re welcome to do that,” Wagner said. But he did not say how much weight it would carry to ITA officials.
Another consultant, William Barbel, said that the noise levels are measured into the future based on anticipated growth of traffic levels.
“We look at what it will be like in 2040, as well as what is going on today,” he said.
A resident responded to this by saying, “Very few of us will be here in 2040, so we care primarily about what is going on now.”
A different resident asked if the area between the tollway and N.35 will be developed soon to create barriers to the noise.
“You have to speak with your village about that,” Wagner said. “The area is zoned commercial, and they control what use is made of it.”
