Construction Slated to Begin on 210 Freeway Soundwalls Next Year

The City Council’s Municipal Services Committee heard a report on plans by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (METRO) to construct soundwalls, along the north and south side of the I-210 Freeway, between Fair Oaks and Wilson Avenues.

The project is part of Package 10 of Metro’s Countywide Retrofit Soundwall Program, which includes building soundwalls within the city limits of Pasadena, Arcadia and Burbank.

The project includes the construction of up to 15 foot-high concrete masonry walls within the I-210 right-of-way. Any impacted landscaping will be restored, and irrigation and drainage facilities, utilities pavement, signage and striping will be constructed where necessary.

Construction is slated to begin in 2022, the project may be completed by the first quarter of 2025, the memorandum showed.

The plans have been reviewed by the PWP and the Transportation Department.

Soundwalls are often used as solutions to major noise problems, but they don’t always work.

In 2012, residents along a two-mile stretch of the westbound 210 Freeway between Santa Anita Avenue in Arcadia and California Avenue in Monrovia said the $22 million project had created an amphitheater type effect and made the sound worse.

According to a city memo, the project was designed by Caltrans in 2012.

Pasadena’s Department of Public Works will be coordinating closely with Metro and the future project contractor on issues such as maintenance agreements, encroachment permits, monitoring of lane closure and traffic control, inspection of work performed within Pasadena’s right-of-way, and protection of existing city-owned facilities.

“I am thrilled that the issue of sound walls on the I-210 is finally being addressed in public,” said Diane Kirby, co-President Lower Hastings Ranch Association. “Every opportunity I have had to comment on development along the 210 and the transit corridor, I have emphasized the importance of sound walls and large-scale vegetation to mitigate the negative effects on the environment and the health of the residents along that corridor. I would like to see noise studies done along the length of the entire freeway so that those residents most impacted are prioritized.”

The department will also implement a public outreach plan in coordination with Metro so that public is adequately informed and consulted for feedback.