Homes Near Orange Line May Get Double-Pane Windows

In response to noise complaints along the Orange Line busway, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could soon start installing double-pane windows along the San Fernando Valley route, officials said.

Of 41 complaints the MTA has received since the 14-mile busway opened in October, reasonable noise levels were exceeded in nine cases, Marc Littman, a spokesman for the agency, said last week.

The MTA has built sound walls along some portions of the route, which runs between Warner Center and the North Hollywood connection to the Red Line subway. The bus-only corridor, roughly parallel to Victory Boulevard north of the Ventura Freeway, also is paved with rubberized asphalt, to decrease tire noise. But it’s not enough.

Some dwellings, such as apartment buildings, are higher than the sound walls. Parts of the line don’t have sound walls because MTA and traffic engineers determined that they would hamper visibility for motorists on intersecting streets, Littman said.

Recently, the MTA modified exhaust pipes on the Orange Line’s 60-foot-long articulated buses so that they no longer blow sideways toward residences as buses drive by. The pipes now open to the rear.

MTA representatives are meeting with residents to find ways, such as double panes on windows, to better insulate homes from busway noise, Littman said.