Pitt Meadows city council is considering the construction of a sound barrier along the south side of Airport Way, at an estimated cost of $1.6 million.
Councillors reviewed a staff report titled “Airport Way Noise Barrier Feasibility Study” earlier this month, and have asked staff to include construction of a 4.5-metre-tall sound attenuation wall on a list of projects to be considered by council in coming years.
The wall would stand along the south side of the east-west arterial route through southern Pitt Meadows.
The city will also ask developers to help pay for it, with plans to negotiate a contribution from Onni, “recognizing the majority of sound impacts arise from their Golden Ears Light Industrial Business Park traffic activities.”
Salia Ahrabian, manager of engineering and facilities, told council the city has received complaints from residents living on the south side of Airport Way. The city conducted a feasibility study with the help of acoustic consultants BKL out of Burnaby.
The proposed wall would extend from the roundabout in the east to the northwest cover of the Nature’s Walk development, which is a total length of 720 metre. There would be gaps for roads.
The sound wall must to close to either the source or the recipient to be effective, council heard, so it would be on the south side of the Trans-Canada Trail, close to residential property lines. A three-metre high row of hedge trees would be removed.
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The wall cannot be built closer to the roadway, because the city needs to access Katzie Slough on occasion for maintenance work.
Coun. Bob Meachen noted that the reduction in sound levels will not be what council expected, and he suggested the current noise levels may be temporary.
“When phase three and four of the Golden Ears Business Park are finally built out in the next three-four years, the constant wagon train of heavy duty dump trucks will likely cease, or go down dramatically,” said Meachen.
The cost estimate includes a 15 per cent contingency of $210,000. City is looking at funding the project through development cost charges, on a timeline that would not see the wall’s installation until the end of 2023, assuming council’s final approval.
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