London city council turned down a full-length noise wall along Veterans Memorial Parkway and is asking city engineering staff to come up with a lower cost alternative.
Instead of spending upwards of $1.5 million on a noise wall between Dundas and Admiral, council is banking on doing the job for $500,000.
But some are skeptical it'll be enough dough to turn down the volume.There was a range of emotions from east London residents Tuesday night after watching council debate the merits of a noise wall along Veterans Memorial Parkway.
“I can assure you that these people will not go away,” says councillor Bill Armstrong. “These are their homes. This is their investment.”
In a vote of 8-7, council endorsed a motion to refer the problem back to staff to investigate new materials for noise reduction, with an upset limit of $500,000.
“There is no magic bullet that will give broad based relief,” says councillor Paul Van Meerbergen. “It's just not out there.”
The original recommendation was to spend $300,000 to build up the existing berm, a noise wall estimated at $1.7 million was deemed unaffordable and precedent setting.
Concerns began about 10 years ago, when the roadway was doubled in size to four lanes. As of today, about 25,000 vehicles a day travel the parkway, including many heavy trucks.
The money is to be earmarked for the 2014 city budget.
