The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Reducing speed would quiet noise on Highway 85 quickly

By Sarah Lombardo

Reducing speeds on Highway 85 by 10 mph would lower noise levels attributed to the road, according to the final version of a noise report released Jan. 14. The option is the top recommendation in the report, which was commissioned by Caltrans to look into possible ways to quiet the highway.

Ray Nugent, director of the noise-reduction consulting firm Acentech of Thousand Oaks, said the recommendation moved to the top during the writing of the final version. "If you take a look at the cost of the recommendation, it makes it right to the top of the list," he said. "People don't seem to realize that the noise of a vehicle goes up proportionally with the speed."

Realistically, however, officials said the top recommendation probably won't carry much weight. "The beauty of that recommendation is that it could be implemented immediately without spending a penny," said Victor Zeuzem, environmental engineering branch chief for Caltrans. "Our only thought is that no one is going to drive slower. [That recommendation] is the least likely to be implemented."

Nugent and another Acentech official are scheduled to present the company's findings at a Saratoga City Council meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Civic Theater. They will also discuss the recommendations, which include resurfacing the existing roadway, adding noise-absorbing materials to the surfaces of noise barriers already in place and increasing the height of sound walls in specific areas.

The hearing is the latest action in the history of the Highway 85 noise issue, which began virtually weeks after the freeway opened in October 1994. At that time, residents near the freeway began complaining to their city councils that the noise from the road was much louder than they had expected and that the cities should do something about it. Highway 85 runs through the southwest corner of Sunnyvale. Caltrans agreed to put up more than $100,000 to fund the report in March 1996, after receiving pressure not only from the city councils, but from Assemblyman Jim Cunneen and state Sen. Byron Sher and a citizens group, the Freeway Noise Abatement Committee.

Acentech was asked to look into which mitigation measures would reduce the noise levels on the highway by at least three to five decibels, a level commonly considered to be the lowest level at which a difference in noise is noticeable. According to the report, resurfacing the road and existing barriers and making noise barriers taller could reduce noise levels by between three and five decibels, depending on the method used. A combination of methods would result in a greater reduction in noise.

After almost two years of waiting for the results, Saratoga Mayor Don Wolfe said he hopes the Feb. 4 meeting will be more than just informative for the council and residents.

"I think [the council] will look at all the research and options and certainly make some decisions," he said. "It would be my desire that a real action plan with a time frame in place be recommended at that meeting."

But how chosen options will be implemented remains to be seen. Throughout the process, Caltrans officials have maintained that Highway 85 was built within the state's requirements for noise levels, and so the agency cannot bear the responsibility of funding a noise-reduction project.

Wolfe and members of the abatement committee disagree, but, Wolfe said, other sources for funding besides Caltrans could also be explored.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 4, 1998.
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