Cutting off the noise but not the view

The soundproofing walls that increasingly line highways, especially in densely populated areas, often have a brooding look. But transportation planners are beginning to borrow an idea from Europe to make the freeway corridor more livable: see-through sound walls.

Such walls, erected on the south side of Interstate 71 in a blue-collar Cleveland neighborhood, will give the new home of St. Paul AME Church a window on the 90,000 vehicles passing daily. The church and local leaders lobbied for the see-through exemption to raise the church’s profile.

Federal guidelines allow the see-through sound walls for churches, historic locations, parks, hospitals and schools.

See-through sound walls are relatively new, with more states looking into the option.

“They are not that common,” said Doug Hecox, a spokesman with the Federal Highway Administration, which encourages states to consider aesthetics in highway planning. States decide how to go about that.

Crews were already preparing the highway shoulder along I-71 for sound wall installation when the Rev. Gena Thornton, pastor of St. Paul, realized the view of her new church from the highway would be blocked. “Our concern was that we would be hidden behind the wall. We wanted people to be able to see,” Thornton said.

“We felt that was a valid concern,” said Mark Carpenter, an environmental engineer with the Ohio Department of Transportation. The agency will pay $5.8 million for the overall project.

Thornton believes having the church visible to motorists helps promote its work. “It’s a means of evangelism. A lot of people passing that spot will know that we are here,” she said.

The clear panels, made of heavy-duty acrylic, cost about $32 per square foot compared with $20 per square foot for the traditional concrete. Still, the see-through panels can reduce the imposing tunnel effect that a walled highway can create.

See-through panels will soften that effect, City Council President Martin Sweeney said. He got an earful from members of the St. Paul congregation when they realized they were about to be walled off from the high-profile freeway view that they valued when they purchased the land for a new church building.

“We talked with them and begged and pleaded,” Thornton said.

Next year Virginia will install see-through sounds walls on the replacement Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria, giving motorists a view of the Potomac River south of the Capitol and protecting a riverfront park from traffic noise.

In Dayton, homeowners wanted sound walls but the Dayton Art Institute didn’t want to block I-75 views of its Italian Renaissance-style facade, so the state offered the see-through compromise, ODOT’s Barbara Elliston said. The project begins this fall.

In Akron, which got one of Ohio’s first see-through sound walls in early summer, highway engineers used clear panels on the top quarter of the 16-foot walls, providing privacy to homes but allowing more sunlight into backyards.

Mike Madonio, Akron’s design division manager, said it remained to be seen whether the panels would get dirty and scuffed in winter weather with blowing snow and highway salt along I-77.

Most people like the sound walls to create a quieter neighborhood, Madonio said, and the see-through option might not appeal to some because of the perception that if you don’t see the traffic, it’s not as loud. “It’s kind of an out-of-sight, out-of-mind philosophy,” he said.