Westport residents look to reduce noise on I-95

WESTPORT — Neighbors are looking to the state to make Interstate 95 quieter as part of an ongoing two-mile construction project in Westport and Norwalk.

Westporter James McKay, who has lived in his current home near I-95 for 22 years, wants the state Department of Transportation project on Route 33 of I-95 to include noise mitigation components like those the state is asking for in Greenwich, he said.

“If it is good enough for Greenwich, then it’s good enough for Westport,” McKay said.

The state recently nixed a $205 million improvement project on I-95 in Greenwich that would have added noise mitigation components. Gov. Ned Lamont said that he is going to direct the DOT to “revisit” the project and find a “more comprehensive solution.”

McKay said the level of noise has been increasing over the past two decades. He said his neighbors have been complaining about the noise for years as well.

He blamed changing traffic patterns and commerce market conditions for the rising noise levels.

There are no new noise walls included in the WestportNorwalk project, according to a public informational meeting about the project in June. This project does not meet the criteria for adding noise walls using federal funds, according to the meeting presentation. It would have to be a completely new highway, lane expansion, change in alignment or addition of new facilities for to be included.

A Norwalk resident asked why state funds could not be used to add noise barriers in Norwalk during the meeting. Project officials said it would take “an act by the state legislature.”

“As noted in our previous response and discussed in the presentation, the allocation of state funds for new noise barriers at a new location requires an act by the state legislature,” Brett Stark, a consultant liaison engineer from BL Companies, said at the meeting in June. “A local legislator must be the one to initiate the request, it is not the matter of DOT requesting the funds.”

Stark said this is a safety improvement project.

The DOT proposal for this project includes installing a concrete barrier, increasing the width of the shoulder, replacing the guide-rail, as well as adding new lighting and a longer on-ramp on Interchange 16. It also includes updates to the drainage system, pavement, replacing the bridge over Saugatuck Avenue and the “rehabilitation” of the bridges over Franklin Street and the Saugatuck River, Stark said.

The construction will cost $98 million, with 90 percent paid for by federal money and 10 percent from the state, according to the informational meeting presentation. Back in June, the project was expected to begin in late 2021 or early 2022 and completed by the fall of 2024.

McKay said the time to act on adding the noise features is now since the project hasn’t been awarded yet.

Should construction noise reach 90 decibels or higher, the construction team will make efforts to decrease noise levels, according to the presentation.

The DOT and state Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, could not be reached for immediate comment.