Cities Discuss Deal on New Sound Wall

Local concern over Anaheim’s plans to build a 40-foot-high sound wall south of Yorba Linda’s borders has been quelled a bit by reports of a compromise being worked out between the two cities.

Anaheim has proposed a sound wall south of the railroad tracks from Imperial Highway to Yorba Linda Boulevard to block train noise from across the Riverside Freeway for nearby Anaheim Hills residents.

But Yorba Linda residents were alarmed by the plan, saying the steel structure would be a magnet for graffiti and intensify the train noise by reflecting it north into their city. Anaheim officials maintain that the wall is designed to absorb noise.

Yorba Linda Public Works Director Roy Stephenson said last week both cities are discussing screening to hide the monolithic structure from view of residents in his city. A landscaped berm topped with a decorative block sound wall to the north of the Burlington-Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks would not only screen the larger sound wall from view, but would block any train noise going north into Yorba Linda. Trains would travel between the two walls, he said.

“It’s a good solution,” Stephenson said. “It’s aesthetically pleasing and also acts as a second sound wall. I see this benefiting Yorba Linda as well as . . . Anaheim.”

Anaheim Public Works Director Gary Johnson confirmed that the two cities are talking about including a second wall into the project, but said nothing has been decided. An environmental impact report on the initial sound wall project will be completed and open for public review in a few weeks, he added.