City officials seek natural sound barrier, not wall
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published Sept. 7, 2005

Mayor Thomas O'Grady wants to take a natural approach to sound barriers on the $14.2 million Crocker Stearns road project instead of a concrete one.

O'Grady would like Cuyahoga County officials to consider building an earth mound as a sound barrier instead of the 13-foot concrete noise barrier walls planned for the project in North Olmsted. Currently, county officials plan for the noise barrier walls to start north of Lorain Road, extend 1,660 feet along the west side and 3,523 feet on the east side of the Crocker-Stearns area. The walls would be about two feet from the sidewalk.

"I don't think tall concrete barriers are what we want people to see while driving through North Olmsted on a major transportation artery like Crocker-Stearns will be," O'Grady said. "They're oppressive and don't give a good feeling about the city. I'd like to see if the county will consider putting up natural barriers like mounds with trees and other more natural means of blocking sounds. Ultimately, it will be up to the residents to let us know what they want."

At a council streets and transportation committee meeting Aug. 30, council heard a presentation from county engineering office officials about the Crocker Stearns project. George Nashar, chairman of the committee, and several other council members expressed concern about the walls in the current plan. In addition, about 30 citizens attended the meeting to hear about the project. Although Nashar said they could not speak or ask questions at the August meeting, he emphasized that there would be a public meeting Sept. 26 where citizens can ask all the questions they want.

Nashar said O'Grady's idea has merit.

"It's certainly worth exploring," Nashar said. "If the residents think it's a viable option, I'd like to look at it."

Nashar said he will check with Planning Director Kim Wenger to see if it's financially feasible, noting that county officials at the Aug. 30 meeting said it's very difficult to make financial and planning changes late in a project like this.

Jamal Husani, the chief transportation and traffic engineer for the county, said any financial changes would have to be born by North Olmsted since the federal government has committed a large amount of money to the project and it doesn't like to make changes when a plan has been made.

He also said the right of ways have been acquired and that the county would not go back and spend additional funds to acquire more property for any changes in the project.

O'Grady said he hopes the financial factors will actually work in favor of building a mound sound barrier.

"One would think that mounds of dirt and adding trees and other natural sound barriers would actually be less expensive than a tall concrete barrier," O'Grady said. "We can certainly explore it."

Wenger said she is open to different ideas, but added that the decision on changes does not rest with her.

"Those barriers are not the most aesthetically pleasing site, and you certainly would like to have something set up which would project something more pleasing or inviting to have people see as something representing your city," Wenger said. "A natural mound barrier or fencing with other means of deadening the traffic sound would seem more in line with what people seem to be saying.

"But it will be up to the county, and it appears that it would take a tremendous amount of support from the city and residents for a change to get one at this time. They have already made plans and other preparations for the right of ways and other work and it's not easy to get a change when that kind of work has already been done."

Michael Gareau Jr., chairman of council's zoning committee, also said the natural barrier has potential.

"It sounds good because when you look at the kind of concrete barriers they're talking about, you don't see them in place around other cities," Gareau said. "You see them by highways and other areas not so close to residences and homes. If it's something the people indicate they have an interest in, I'd explore it."

Paul Miller, chairman of council's safety committee, said he also has concerns about the concrete walls.

"They seem awfully close to the sidewalks," Miller said. "They're only a couple of feet away. What happens if a kid loses his balance on a bike and runs into the wall? You also have the graffiti factor. I really don't want to see a lot of graffiti up on walls as people drive through our city."

Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough, whose city has mounds with trees and a light covering on it as sound barriers, advocated using the natural method, saying they've been effective for his administration and residents like them.

"They look much better and they're easy to set up," Clough said. "You're going to have a tremendous amount of dirt being dug up when the road work starts. Just use the dirt from the road work and then plant trees and other natural barriers on it. We've also found it to be effective when we put a light covering on it in some cases, like asphalt."