Wilmington Split on Plan for Sound Wall

A proposed 20-foot wall is dividing Wilmington in more ways than one.

Those against the sound barrier say it will block sea breezes, but supporters say the wall is needed to reduce noise from truck traffic.

The Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the plan Jan. 11 along with a proposal to establish a truck route from the Harbor Freeway to Alameda Street. Part of the plan is to realign, reconstruct and widen the former B Street, now called Harry S. Bridges Boulevard, between Figueroa Street and Broad Avenue, and reconstruct the south side of C Street.

Harbor officials will also build the sound buffer between Bridges Boulevard and C Street from Figueroa Street to Neptune Avenue.

The construction would reduce traffic through residential streets by providing a direct truck route, and the buffer would help reduce noise.

Gertrude Schwab, president of Wilmington North Neighborhood Society, said the wall would be unattractive and impede the air flow. “We get an ocean breeze in the afternoon,” she said. “It’s not going to jump that wall. People on the other side of that wall are going to be living in a proverbial hot box.”

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Supporters said the sound buffer would reduce the noise and dismissed arguments about the lack of air and aesthetics.

“We studied this for a long time,” said Connie Calderon, project director for Wilmington Teen Center. The center is located off C Street where the proposed wall would be built. “For me, it’s an improvement. There’s plenty of air for everyone.”

The origins of the project can be traced back to Aug. 24, 1988. The Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the Wilmington Truck Traffic Task Force recommendations to establish a designated truck route. Calderon said the wall was mentioned back then as a way to decrease noise and reroute trucks.

“We welcome the wall,” said Maggie Flores, a local resident. “It should have been there a long time ago. The noise is terrible at night.”

However, Gwen Butterfield, secretary of the Wilmington Community Advisory Committee, said perhaps a compromise can be worked out.

“The people who live there deserve to have the sound mitigated,” she said. “I would just like to know what the other options are, perhaps trees of a certain height. I’d just like to know more before they say this is the only way it can be done.”