Sound, fury, but no race to barriers

Until now residents in Billerica and Lexington had seen little movement on the state's promise to build sound barriers between their homes and Route 3 traffic.

But two weeks ago, crews from the Massachusetts Highway Department began cutting down trees along sections of the highway in Billerica near the Eliot Street Bridge, preparing for the long-awaited construction. Christine Vieira-Trant, a homeowner in the Eliot Street neighborhood, said she and her neighbors welcome the activity.

"We're very excited. We can't believe it's happening," she said late last month. "We've been pushing for this since 2002. It's been a constant battle. The state made a commitment to build barriers in 2004 but we saw nothing until today, so this is very exciting."

In Lexington, however, a group of residents who have also been promised sound barriers are frustrated. Edwin LoTurco, leader of the Lexington effort, said he and others were told that work would start last fall.

"It's refreshing to some degree to see the work that's being done in Billerica, but on the other hand, this issue with the barriers hasn't moved fast enough," he said. "We understand that they're in the design phase, but we feel it's something that should have been started last fall. It's what they promised."

MassHighway spokesman Erik Abell said the Billerica barrier, which is estimated to cost $5.3 million, is expected to be completed by December. He said preliminary design work on the Lexington project has recently started.

"Once that's completed, we'll start construction," he said. "We're hoping to start in early 2008, with a completion later in the year."

With the $385 million widening of Route 3 along a 21-mile stretch from Burlington to the New Hampshire border, and with similar work on parts of Route 128, highway noise has mushroomed into a regional issue. The work required the contractor to remove trees and boulders that were natural buffers against the noise. Also, travel lanes were moved closer to homes.

Communities along the highways have asserted that the road work brings more cars, and more noise, closer to their neighborhoods. They have debated MassHighway over the question of whether sound barriers are warranted. The state uses several variables in such determinations, including decibel levels, construction costs, and the number of homes that would benefit from barriers.

The state has a priority list of about 50 sites where its officials say sound barriers are warranted. They are generally in neighborhoods where higher traffic volume due to road-widening projects has raised noise levels.

Abell said the state has constructed sound barriers in Milton, Quincy, and Wakefield last year. He said the agency has started the design process of a sound barrier that will be erected along a stretch of Interstate 93 in Woburn, near Salem Street and Albert Drive. He said, too, that sound barrier construction projects must compete with other costly priorities like road and bridge repair.

Billerica didn't make the list until 2004, when a resident group pushed for additional noise-level tests. The results confirmed the claims made by people who lived in nearby neighborhoods.

"They had to come back out and test, but they found we were correct," said Vie i ra-Trant, who moved into her home 12 years ago.

Residents in Lexington took the legal route. They sued MassHighway in 2003 because the agency had determined that sound barriers were not warranted. The lawsuit led to a court-ordered sound study last year which found that noise levels were high enough to justify barriers.

LoTurco said his group will not proclaim victory until construction actually gets underway. "We'll all be a bit anxious," he said, "until they're in the building phase."

Other communities in the area have pursued sound barriers using different strategies. A two-town coalition of Burlington and Woburn residents has lobbied state legislators to step in. State Senator Robert Havern, an Arlington Democrat, promised to file legislation seeking money to finance construction.

Havern said he would earmark funds in a capital budget that will be submitted to the Legislature later this month or in early June.

"This funding will come from legislation, not MassHighway," he said. "It should enable thing s to be done much sooner."

In Billerica, Vieira-Trant said the neighborhood will come out in celebration to christen the new barriers when they are completed.

"It will be a special day," she said. "We'll have a ribbon-cutting ceremony."