New I-480 sound barriers due in July
North Olmsted
Published Oct. 11, 2006

City officials have been presented with the good news–bad news scenario by their state counterparts about the aging sound barrier walls on I-480.

In the good news, instead of repairing the current run down walls, the state will instead replace them.

However, the bad news is the state won’t be able to begin replacing them until July 2007, instead of beginning the repairs this month as they were originally scheduled to do.

State officials sent out letters recently saying they would not be able to do the repairs and instead would have to build new walls. The initial letters said the state would not be able to replace the barriers for three years. However, after hearing this, city officials said that was unacceptable and contacted Ohio Department of Transportation officials about the situation.

Both Nicole Dailey Jones, the chairwoman of council’s streets and transportation committee who had lobbied earlier for the repairs, and Mayor Thomas O’Grady made contact and fired off letters.

Jones, who worked with the entire council to get off a joint letter, said there wasn’t any choice for the city officials.

“While we’re happy to be getting brand new walls, we just couldn’t wait years to get those new walls up,” Jones said. “People have already been waiting to get repairs done on those walls. A two or three year wait just wouldn’t be right.”

O’Grady said finances are at the root of the problem.

“When the state got the bids for the repair work back home, they were much higher than they had budgeted for the repairs,” O’Grady said. “So they decided to go another route.”

In an Oct. 2 letter to the city, ODOT Deputy Director David J. Coyle outlined the financial problem encountered by the state.

“The bids taken for a repair project were about $1.2 million above what the department estimated the job would cost. In fact, the total $2.5 million bid would cover the cost of new noise barriers. As a result, we have decided to totally replace the noise barriers rather than repair,” Coyle said in the letter.

However, since they had to program and prepare plans for replacement barriers instead of  repair work, Coyle said they will begin the work in July 2007, which is the first quarter of the 2008 fiscal year, the first time when the $2.5 million will be available.

“They’ll demolish the old barriers in the next few weeks and then put up temporary barriers until they get the new ones going next year,” O’Grady said.

Jones said the noise and safety concerns were paramount to the city.

“Years have passed with all the problems with those walls,” Jones said. “They just aren’t safe because of their instability. It’s also an economic issue for some people with their homes, because they may not be able to sell them because of the noise. It’s asking a lot to make people wait another year when the repairs had already been scheduled. But we’re getting new sound barriers which will be a better situation in the long run.”

O’Grady said he doesn’t want to stop with just the new barriers replacing existing ones.

“I’m also requesting that the state look into trying to put up additional noise barriers within the city,” O’Grady said. “They said no funds are available for that right now, but I’m going to stay after that and try and get additional barriers sometime.”

Jones said ultimately it will make the city better.

“It’s a great example of how good government can work,” she said. “A problem developed and all of council and the administration worked together to get something done by contacting the state and letting them know waiting three years would be unacceptable,” she said.