Title
143rd Street - Noise Wall
History
The Village’s engineering team and its consultant are currently working on Phase 1 Engineering Studies for the eastern section of 143rd Street widening project. The eastern section is located between Wolf Road and Southwest Highway whereas the western section is located from Wolf Road to Will-Cook Road. As part of the environmental studies for this project, traffic noise was evaluated following federal and State project development procedures for the proposed improvements, as well as, the No-Build, or “do-nothing” option. That analysis found that, due to the proposed roadway improvements and predicted future noise levels for the homes within the Courtyard subdivision, directly adjacent to 143rd Street (Compton Court intersection to First Midwest Bank driveway), justify the installation of a noise wall. The noise wall will mitigate noise impacts to nine residential homes. The proposed wall will be approximately 400 feet in length and 10 feet high. The actual style of the noise wall would be determined during the next phase of engineering.
Per State and federal noise analysis policy, the opinion of the affected resident’s regarding the desirability of such a wall is taken into account before a final decision is made on the inclusion of the potential noise wall in the proposed improvement. The nine property owners benefited by the wall will each receive one vote regarding whether they want such a wall or not. A Noise Forum is being held for benefitted properties on June 9th (via a zoom audio and video meeting) to explain the federal noise analysis process, the proposed improvement and potential noise wall. A property is considered benefited when the noise wall results in a noticeable reduction in noise level, which is defined as five decibels or more. Only properties “benefited” by a noise wall may vote in favor of or against the wall. Village ordinances or homeowner association (HOA) rules have no effect on whether or not the noise wall will be installed. If more than half of the votes received are in favor of the noise wall, the wall will likely be included by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in the project. A final decision on the installation of the potential noise wall will be made upon completion of the project’s final design and the public involvement process.
More information can be found about the traffic noise analysis process and guidelines on the IDOT website: http://idot.illinois.gov/transportation-system/environment/index (Community Tab\Traffic Noise).
An exhibit is attached that shows the location and a planning level rendering of the wall.
Viewpoint Solicitation Forms - A “Viewpoint Solicitation Form” (attached) was mailed by the Village to each benefited property owner during the week of May 25, 2020. The form offers opportunity to each property owners to vote for or against the recommended noise wall in their area. For their vote to count, the following options were offered:
- Return the form via mail;
- Fax to (847) 823-0520 or
- E-mail the responses to Matt Huffman at mhuffman@cbbel.com <mailto:mhuffman@cbbel.com>.
The residents must include their full name and address in all correspondences. Both owners and tenants are allowed to submit their viewpoints. However, each owner or tenant is only allowed to vote once. All responses must be received by the Village or postmarked by June 23, 2020.
The list of benefited property owners is attached with the staff report.
Financial Impact
There are no immediate financial impacts related to this request.
Recommended Action/Motion
This report is for information and discussion purposes only. A motion is not needed for this request. Staff will come back to the Committee of the Whole and to the Board of Trustees with updated information when available.