The South Portlander

I live in the area, on the highway side, and I have to say, I would do without the sound barrier, in order to get the potholes on Broadway actually paved instead of “patched”, and the rest of South Portland for that matter. While I can hear the cars, I can also hear the planes overhead and knew this before I moved in to my house… Will Jim next ask for a sound barrier over our houses so we don’t have to hear the planes landing and helicopters taking off?

Hooray!!! You have no idea how much this’ll help the neighborhood. Thanks, Jim!

Part of the issue is that sound barriers for I-295 are probably paid for, at least in part, by federal funds… whereas pothole repairs on Broadway would need to come from the city.  Draw your own conclusions.

I am thrilled.  Thanks so much for all your help Jim… How can anyone compare a pothole to the noise we have to listen to every day and night of our life?

While we all know that potholes can be a nuisance to drivers, and that planes overhead may occasionally be annoying, noise pollution is a much more dramatic issue. The State has tested and retested the noise level near our homes and has determined that the noise level that our neighborhood deals with ALL DAY & EVERY DAY meets the necessary criteria for remediation. It is important to know that it is NOT easy to meet that criteria. The fact that we do, and that repeated testing continues to indicate that we do, demonstrates the severity of the problem. A BIG “THANK YOU” to our City Council, our legislative delegation, and to the State, for acknowledging the extent of the problem and doing what is necessary for those affected.

I live there and I hear it… trust me, it’s not like I live at the beach and I am saying you don’t need it.  I think we need some road repairs though too.

I actually live in one of the neighborhoods dead-ending near 295 myself and haven’t found the noise to be bad. Granted, I live about six houses from the end of the road so that probably makes a difference. Walking to the end of the road, though, I still haven’t found the noise to be too bad. Again, maybe I would feel differently if I lived at the very end.

My concerns about this, though, is, first, how much it will cost. I’m sorry if that makes me seem insensitive but it is an issue that affects a relatively small number of residents and the money will have to come from somewhere.

I am also concerned about how this barrier is going to look. It seems to me that there is a reason that Maine doesn’t want billboards blighting the landscape and we’ve seen the uproar about the oil tanks. How is this going to look on its own and, sadly we have to ask, how will it look after it has been vandalized?

I would finally want to know how effective it will actually be. I’m sure there have been studies done to show how much it cuts down on the noise.

I am skeptical about this project but if the cost is small, the eyesore reasonable and the barrier effective, I think it would be great to be able to give those residents relief from the noise.

Walking down to the end of the street and listening to the sound for a few minutes is one thing.  Having to hear the sound constantly, 24/7, is another matter entirely. That said, I do hope they’re able to conceal this thing somehow (with trees?)… I’ve seen many of them in Massachusetts and all of the states south of Mass., and they’re not particularly pretty.

Bravo Jim!  I love to see local government at work.  I would like to make a few points about people’s opposition.

1) These barriers are used all over the rest of New England along the highways.  They do not look bad.  In fact, I’d rather see a clean neat sound barrier rather than the mish-mash of everyone’s backyard.  Should there be any vandalism it could be covered with a bucket of paint.  Home Depot $16.95.

2) Potholes are a way of life in New England.  It snows, we plow, we dig up the roads..rinse repeat.  Consider it the price you pay to live in New England.  Not to mention is helps slow down the traffic.

3) Don’t underestimate the number of homes in the area.  I heard some 51 homes were affected by the noise.

I agree with Jim potholes are a way of life in Maine and it surely slows down the traffic which we need here in SOPO.  However, when you want to sit out on your porch talking on the phone, comments I get are: “are you on the highway”, “I can’t hear you”, “How annoying is that”. So for me this barrier will be most welcomed.  Thanks to everyone for making this project happen.

I find it incomprehensible any resident of this neighborhood does not see this as a priority.  Potholes one can avoid by a slight tap of the brakes or going around.  Noise however cannot be avoided and is with us rain sleet snow or shine.  By the way,when was the last time a resident of this neighborhood opened a window during the summer???

Let’s get these put up along Willard Beach too so Dan and Steve don’t have to hear the barking dogs!!

If we want to hear each other, hear the television,sleep, talk on the phone, think etc., we can’t open the windows.  Even with them shut we still hear the noise.  You can’t even imagine what is like until you experience it 24-7.  Come and walk in our shoes.  This is a dream come true for our neighborhood.

I grew up in one of the house on the dead-end street.  When I go home to visit my parents, we can’t sit outside and visit because we can’t hear each other and when I call them I can hear the traffic on the phone.  When I need to sleep over or my children sleep over, we can’t sleep because of all the noise from the highway & this is with the windows closed and shades drawn and that is in the middle of the night!  Can you imagine a 7 & 9 year old not being able to sleep because of it. 
With so many people driving now and all the large trucks this would be a welcome relief.  This is needed and it is very different than a pothole!

I live on Hobart several houses up from 295 and I am so happy they have decided to put up the sound barriers. The highway traffic noise is very loud even at our distance from the highway and it is CONSTANT - 24/7 as others have said—nothing like hitting a pot hole every once in a while. Literally, you cannot talk over the noise. Imagine that at your house.

Thank you so much for taking care of this issue and improving the quality of life for our neighbors! We who have to listen to the cars appreciate all your efforts and look forward to a bit of quiet!

The only successes Jim Hughes has had in his six years are projects adjacent to his home on Broadway. First the feud with the State over the netting and the landscaping by the golf course (next to his house) and now the sound barrier (across the street). We deserve someone to represent District 5 who does more than show up once a week. And when they show up, get more done than just solve issues affecting the block he lives on. My prediction for your getting re-elected....slim Jim.

Well, SlimJim, I’m glad Mr. Hughes lives near me this time. And if he kept that nasty netting from going up at the golf course, another thanks to him. And as a west-sider, I’d take better sidewalks over potholes any day. I wouldn’t mind slowing down traffic on Broadway at all. Speaking of sidewalks - did anyone notice that the Clarks Pond trail now connects to Westbrook Street? But just try to get there from the other side of 295! You have to walk a half mile past it up the street, cross, and then walk back. Unless there’s a surprise plan yet to be unveiled, this is an example of not looking at the larger picture and taking steps towards a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly city.

I’ll tell you that Jim Hughes lost my vote when he reappointed Carol Thorne to the planning board. She is so pro-development, I expect to see her driving the bulldozer to clear trees on some of these new projects. Hughes says traffic is his number one concern and then he reappoints someone who promotes increased traffic...I don’t get it. He seems to talk out of both sides of his mouth. Isn’t there someone in this area who can run against him and actually get stuff done?

Potholes granted are an everyday annoyance for many. For the 51 affect families, the Above Acceptable Noise Levels is a Health and well being problem. Potholes were there the day I moved into the affected area some 27 years ago. The Unacceptable Noise Level was not. Potholes could be patched today and become a nuisance a week from now. A Noise Barrier is a one time chance to improve the health and well being of a community. Pot Hole repair will cost the city of South Portland real economic dollars. The construction of a Noise Barrier will cost the city of South Portland nothing. Let’s take a quick look at a few recent events.
A. The Southern Forecaster
August 15, 2008
Page 2
Article on New I-295 Interchange by Randy Billings
Excerpt
The city (South Portland) is normally required to pay 15% of highway projects costs, paid about 40% of the $5.6 M construction cost to move the project forward.
South Portland Tax Payers have just recently kicked in and additional $1.5 Million Dollars to assist with the completion of the Exit 3(Thatcher’s Corner) MDOT Project.
B. MDOT suspends paving operations due to costs
http://blog.kennebunkpost.com/2008/08/21/mdot-delays-so-maine-paving-projects--aug-22-2008.aspx
South Portland Tax Payers can expect a much higher expense for those paving projects.
C. DOT project currently requires No Local Dollars
Southern Forecaster
August 22, 2008
Article by Randy Billings
Quote:
Nathan Howard, a DOT planning specialist, said 75% of the 51 residential units must vote in favor of the barrier for the project to move forward.
It should also be noted that Exit 3 will be widened in the near future, thus adding additional Traffic Noise to the Area. I urge everyone of the 51 family residences affected to “Please Vote Yes”
A very recent twist to the Voting process has now happened. Apparently MDOT has elected to send the 51 residential units a “registered mail voting form”
This form must be completed and received by MDOT by 19 September 2008. Once again, Please Make sure you cast your vote Yes.
This may be our only chance to have the Traffic Noise reduced in our neighborhood. A less than 75% Yes vote could very well spell a Death Knoll for all the hard work of Councilor Jim Hughes and concerned citizens such as Ed McDonough.

Can anyone verify “that Exit 3 will be widened in the near future?” I’d like to know more about that. Why not do the job right now and be done with it?
I have heard that there are proposals to make changes to Exit 4. Anyone know more?

I live in this area, Hall St to be exact… living in the approx middle of the length of the street, I am a lucky one where the noise from the highway and Broadway sort of blend in to a noisy hum with the neighborhood children’s voices and seems like busy neighborhood cacophony....then again, I lived on Congress St, State St and Park St in Portland so the sirens and constant traffic there have prepared me I guess.... but I don’t think I am one of the 51 homes affected since this article was the first I had heard of any of this. 
I was wondering though… With all this widening and such, are there any plans to put in sidewalks or improve the ones we have along This end of Broadway?  I am sometimes surprised that there is also no signal light to help the children cross at the corner on the way to and from school, which is almost a blind corner, with all the big trucks and speeders it seems a bit dangerous, even though I have no children I do walk up and down the sidewalk myself and the pot holes are not slowing people down… Sometimes just walking my dog on this end of Broadway is frightening for me, and trying to make my way over to Clark’s Pond from my house is a bit of an adventure.  When you add Winter and snow banks and how narrow and icy the sidewalks are, it is almost impossible to walk on this end of Broadway at all.  I only know Mr. Hughes from the meetings I have attended in person so I do not know if he has been working on this or not.
Thanks, and good luck to the 51 of you that need the barrier!

I spoke to Jim Hughes, and he said that (at least a portion of) I-295 is going to be expanded, with an extra lane in each direction. That would probably effect the exits. Sound barriers might be erected in the not-too-distant future - which makes sense if the highway is getting both closer and busier. Following the widening of I-295, there might be an addition of a southbound ramp from Exit 4. Which is nice, since the MDOT and PACTS ended up doing nothing about heavy truck traffic on Broadway, and they still rumble past night and day. A revised Exit 4 would allow trucks a shorter way out. Maybe.

And I agree with Deni - our sidewalks are horrible, it’s scary to watch kids anywhere near Broadway, and it’s a crying shame it’s so hard to reach Clarks Pond from this side of the highway.

This area got more traffic from the new Post Office station, but the city ended up paying more than its fair share for Exit 3 improvements.

Keep the potholes, but fix the sidewalks and make this end of town safer to walk and bike. Maybe a few little pedestrian bridges? This end of town is really starting to feel like the poor relation, while everyone speeds past in their SUVs, swilling lattes and chatting on their cell phones on their way to the mall.

I wish all we had to fight for were dogs on the beach.

MDOT and the City are holding a Public meeting to discuss the changes proposed for I-295 between exits 3 and 4. The meeting is at Memorial School Library on Sept 24 at 7 PM. MDOT will announce the meeting in the local papers. Ed McDonough and I have walked the area most affected (between Broadway and I-295) leaving notices and talking to our neighbors to let them know about the meeting. MDOT proposes to widen 295 between exits 3 and 4 by adding a lane each way. Also they will be adding a noise barrier if 75% of the 51 properties closest to and most affected by the noise vote for it. No plans to widen Exit 3 after the current work is finished.
In the future we hope to have Exit 4 changed so that you can go both north or south on I-295. In addition, we are working to increase the truck weight limits on federal highways (295, 95, etc.). Once these are both passed oil trucks could get onto 295 and travel south rather than using South Portland’s streets.
Finally, as to sidewalks on our end of Broadway, a budget request for new sidewalks was put into the South Portland’s Capital Improvement Budget after the traffic survey and public meeting concerning Broadway Traffic which I sponsored in 2005. We just haven’t had the money to do it. I’ve asked that we break the job into smaller pieces so that we could a least redo the curve at Wescott Rd. which I consider the most dangerous.
Finally, Finally, I’m on a committee concerned with dogs on Willard beach most of the input I get is from folks who live near the beach or who belong to SoPoDogs, anyone else have thoughts? If so email me at . Thanks.

PACTS recently paid for a survey of residents to determine which projects they should prioritize. Exit 4 of I-295 was not one of the projects on this list of those being considered in the next 5 to 10 years. The ONLY South Portland-based project on the list is potential improvements to Philbrick Road which services Maine Mall. Frankly, I could care less if tourists have an easier time getting around shopping. I want tanker-truck traffic off our neighborhood roads. Sounds like Jim Hughes is asleep at the wheel.

Thanks for the info.  Mr. Hughes, I will e-mail you off-line in regard to the dog issue.

Hey PACTsman,
The Exit 4 change I’m talking about, a southbound ramp onto I-295, is not a pacts project. The engineering and planning cost for Exit 4 is a federal “earmark” that will be disbursed thru MDOT. Councilor (then Mayor) Claude Morgan and ex-city manager Ted Jankowski went to Washington and lobbied the New England congressional delegation arguing that this change to Exit 4 would help oil distribution thru the New England region. Claude and current city manager Jim Gailey followed up with many calls to the delegation and finally the earmark was added to the federal transportation bill. Our original request was for $500,000 the earmark came thru at $1.3 million; federal accounting being what it is we will actually receive less than that but more than $500,000. Future costs can be covered with earmarks and contributions from TIFs on the Hannaford and Rigby Yard properties, which I helped write thru the city TIF committee. Before you say it, these are not the type of TIF where we share the tax savings with the property owners or developer. In these TIFs, the city alone gets the benefits of the tax savings.
Not bad for someone asleep at the wheel.

Thanks for the input and the clarifications, Mr. Hughes.