HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Resolution 95-53 RESOLUTION NO. 95-53
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA,
CALIFORNIA RELATING TO FREEWAY NOISE
WHEREAS, the California State Route 85 Freeway was opened for
traffic through the City of Saratoga in October 1994, and
WHEREAS, noise mitigation measures designed into the freeway in the
form of a depressed profile and sound walls have been effectively
negated by the choice of road surface treatment ordered by the
State of California Department of Transportation in that grooved
concrete rather than ungrooved asphalt was specified, and
WHEREAS, this decision was made over the objection of the funding
agency, the Santa Clara County Traffic Authority, and without the
knowledge or consent of the City as signatory to the Freeway
Agreement with the State Department of Transportation, and
WHEREAS, the City has now learned that studies existed at the time
which show that the use of grooved concrete as opposed to ungrooved
asphalt can cause as much as a six decibel difference in noise
increase from the roadway surface and that the State Department of
Transportation was either ignorant of such studies or chose to
ignor them without proper consultation with the City or the Traffic
Authority, and
WHEREAS, recent independent research of the effects of sound
reflection has demonstrated that retaining walls used in depressed
profile sections of freeways, when used in combination with sound
walls, creates a noise plume above the roadway surface which
travels over the adjacent sound walls, negating the noise
mitigation effects of the sound walls, and
WHEREAS, the current freeway noise mitigation standards of the
Federal Highway Adminsitration fail to account for the noise
variance from road surfaces and fail to account for design profile
effects on noise which could be effectively mitigated through
design choices which, when taken together, could be applied to
minimize freeway noise in urban residential areas, at little or no
additional cost to the project, and
WHEREAS, such current technology and design applications should be
undertaken on a demonstration basis to determine whether federal
noise mititgation standards should be modified for new freeway
design and for freeway retrofit to account for the application of
current known noise reduction technology and design, and
WHEREAS, California State Route 85 through the City of Saratoga is
the preferred location for a demonstration project because of the
extensive pre freeway and post freeway noise studies which have
already been completed in the areas which would provide the best
benchmark of the effects of noise reduction strategies on depressed
profile freeways where retaining walls are used and the freeway
location is in a completely urbanized residential corridor.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the members of the State
Assembly and the State Senate representing the City of Saratoga are
urged to sponsor legislation to provide for a demonstration project
of a section of California State Route 85 in Saratoga to test the
application of current technology and design methods to achieve
maximum noise reduction from freeways where urban residential
conditions exist.
The above and foregoing resolution was passed and adopted by the
Saratoga City Council at an adjourned regular meeting held on the
21st day of November, 1995, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Burger, Moran, Tucker, Wolfe and Mayor Jacobs
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
Mayor
ATTEST:
Deputy City Clerk