For most people, traffic-induced headaches only last a few minutes, but for residents of East Lansing's Red Cedar neighborhood, the headache is never ending.
Brendan Boyle has lived at 1256 Scott Drive for six years, and the road surface noise from the intersection at Interstate 496 and U.S. Highway 127 is as much a neighbor as the people who live in his neighborhood.
People can't sit at a picnic table without having their conversation interrupted by noise emanating from the stretch of highway between the Trowbridge Road and Kalamazoo Street exits, he said.
The combined sound of loud semitrucks, cars and tires is a nuisance that seems to get worse every year, Boyle said.
Boyle is spearheading an effort by the Red Cedar Community Association to have a wall built to reduce road noise in the neighborhood, which is bordered by I-496 to the west, Harrison Road to the east, Trowbridge Road to the south and Marigold Avenue to the north.
The noise is being discussed by the East Lansing City Council at a work session at 7 p.m. tonight in City Hall, 410 Abbott Road.
The City Council must first apply to the Michigan Department of Transportation, or MDOT, to determine the project's costs.
Part of the required application includes a city commitment to pay 10 percent of the total cost. The city could pay up to $500,000, according to an MDOT estimate made by Tom Zurburg, a traffic noise specialist.
"There is clearly no money (for something like this) in the budget for the current year or in long-term plans," East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said.
While there is no room in the budget for the project, Staton said it would move forward if the City Council approves it.
Many similar walls have been built throughout the state by MDOT. Michigan has about 50 miles of sound-reducing walls along state highways to limit noise levels for nearby neighborhoods, Zurburg said.
While some residents of the Red Cedar neighborhood are concerned, students who live in the northern end of the neighborhood are surprised traffic noise is an issue.
"I can't imagine how the noise is that bad," said Jeremy Lynch, a finance senior.
