Bellflower : Noise Tests Show School Is Eligible for Soundproofing

Caltrans officials this week said St. Bernard’s Parish School, which for years has been engulfed in the drone of traffic on the Artesia (91) Freeway, is eligible for state-funded soundproofing of its classrooms.

Caltrans sound-wall project engineer Bill Minter said preliminary tests of three classrooms at the school, which sits 500 feet north of the freeway in Bellflower, show that noise levels are four times higher than state limitations.

“With the school as far away as it is, I thought for sure the results would be borderline,” Minter said. “But there is no question about eligibility. Now the problem is what are we going to do about it.”

Minter said soundproofing usually consists of double-pane windows and air conditioning. The school is already air conditioned, however, and teachers insist that other measures are necessary.

A group headed by parents and part-time teacher Melissa Mosley has been lobbying federal, state and local leaders for a freeway sound wall. Soundproofing, Mosely said, will not help alleviate the noise problems during recess and at lunchtime, when the 305 students are outside. Caltrans regulations and high costs have made the possibility of a sound wall remote.