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Wall will cut Lake Milton traffic noise
LAKE MILTON
Milton Township and Craig Beach residents living along the shores of this popular recreational lake soon will get some relief from incessant interstate-traffic noise.
More than 1.5 miles of concrete traffic-noise barrier wall is being installed along both sides of Interstate 76 on both sides of the lake at a cost of $2.9 million.
The height of the 8,406 feet of barrier wall will range from 13 feet to 25 feet and average about 15 feet.
The installation, which is being performed by Shelly & Sands Inc. of Columbus, began last October and is scheduled to be completed in July.
The project, funded by federal and state money, follows inquiries and requests from the Lake Milton community, said Justin Chesnic, Ohio Department of Transportation public information officer.
That section of I-76 carries an average of about 34,000 vehicles a day, including about 7,800 trucks, buses and recreational vehicles.
Lake Milton satisfied ODOT’s “noise abatement, feasibility and cost-reasonableness criteria” for a noise barrier wall, Chesnic said.
Selection of this section of the interstate highway for the wall “was based on the existing residential land use surrounding Lake Milton,” he said.
“Walls will reduce highway-traffic noise at numerous areas of frequent human exterior and outdoor use,” including homes and a walking trail, he added.
Eastbound I-76 is reduced to one lane between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. daily when weather permits work on the project.
I-76 westbound is reduced to two 10-foot lanes through mid-July.
“It’s going to be a fantastic addition to our community,” said Atty. Joseph Gardner, whose Lake Milton residence is within three-quarters of a mile of I-76.
The interstate-traffic noise is sometimes audible at his residence, depending on wind direction, he said.
“The people that live near the freeway there — they’re going to be shielded from the noise. The truck traffic has gotten worse over the past several years, and this will really help them,” Gardner said.
Gardner said he sees many freeway-noise barrier walls on his frequent trips to Akron and Cleveland.
The Lake Milton Association formed a sound-barrier committee to advocate for the wall, which had been under discussion in that area for 15 years.
Gardner is a member and former president of the association, which is an organization of Lake Milton residents and business people.
Decorative murals promoting the Lake Milton area will be dyed into the concrete wall and visible to interstate motorists, he said.
“The quality of life will be much better” with the traffic-noise barrier wall, said Tom Mackall, who headed the association’s sound-barrier committee.
“It’s a safety issue,” he said, adding that the wall could keep trucks that might leave the interstate from hitting adjacent homes.
Mackall said he is regularly able to hear I-76 traffic noise from his North East River Road home, which is more than a mile north of the interstate.
“It’s amazing how the noise travels across the water,” he said.