“The trucks seem to be what makes up a lot of the noise,” he said.
Brown is one of hundreds of residents living along the freeway who have been affected by traffic noise in Glendale, La Crescenta, Montrose and La Cañada Flintridge, where decades-long efforts to obtain funding for special sound walls have proven fruitless.
But the noise could decrease dramatically if Caltrans develops a plan to add sound walls along the stretch, said Councilman Ara Najarian, who serves as second vice chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors.
At a recent City Council candidate forum, Najarian, who is running for reelection to the council, said he would use his position on the MTA board to make an earnest push for soundwall funding and construction.
Najarian also sent a letter dated Feb. 19 to Caltrans Director Douglas Failing, whose district covers Los Angeles and Ventura counties, requesting details on “next steps” for obtaining funding for sound walls in the area, according to the letter.
Failing was not available to comment on the letter, and Caltrans officials could not confirm whether he had received it.
If funding for sound walls doesn’t seem possible, Najarian said, he would pursue “rubberized pavement” in the area.
“If sound walls themselves are not going to be feasible, whether or not we can get the rubberized pavement for the 210 [Freeway] in that area, that will also dramatically decrease the noise,” he said.
Residents have complained about failed efforts to build sound walls along the Foothill Freeway, especially after a recent Caltrans and MTA program to prioritize development of the buffers around freeways did not put local neighborhoods high on the list, he said.
