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Once peaceful road making noise
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer SPRING HILL -- Bob Cooper enjoys his peace and quiet. He commuted 52 miles from his rural New Jersey home to his job as a New York City utility inspector to preserve that type of lifestyle. After retiring, he bought a home in the spacious Preston Hollow subdivision of Spring Hill, just one lot removed from what he believed to be a country highway running past mostly undeveloped land. But County Line Road is on the fast track to expansion, and Cooper has got some worries. So, too, do several of his neighbors. They've joined to petition the Florida Department of Transportation for barriers to the increased traffic noise they expect to accompany the widening of County Line Road into a four-lane highway. The disturbance already is bad enough now, Cooper said, before the road moves 90 feet closer. "My concern is, when they do that, what are they going to do for the people?" Cooper said, noting that 31 homes and 23 businesses stand to be relocated because of the project. Unlike more commercially oriented thoroughfares, such as State Road 50, he said, "We've got people around here. I'm disappointed." He held up newspaper clippings that further fanned his discontent. They detailed how the Silverthorn subdivision successfully lobbied the state to install a 6-foot berm and plantings to absorb the noise from the Suncoast Parkway, which runs alongside the golf course community. The people living along County Line Road deserve at least equal consideration, Cooper said, adding that he would prefer the state to simply leave the road alone. Mike Seifert, the state's project manager for County Line Road, said he has heard from the residents and the team has considered noise abatement strategies along the highway. To qualify for federal funds on the project, the department conducted a detailed noise analysis of the corridor, he said. A study looks at items such as the anticipated increase in decibel levels at peak traffic times. "At this point, with the information we have, it didn't meet any of the federal requirements for a noise wall," Seifert said. "If it did, it still wouldn't mean that we would jump out there and build a noise wall." Other matters, such as affordability, viability and residents' desires, also would come into play. For now, he reiterated, no plans are in the works. That's not to say the neighbors' concerns will not be heard. The road belongs to the county, not the state, and some county commissioners said they would look further into the issue. "You've got to have a certain amount of compassion for what they're talking about," said Commissioner Chris Kingsley, who brought Silverthorn's complaints about the Suncoast Parkway to the DOT's attention. "I just don't know if it's feasible. But then, for the people at Silverthorn, I didn't think that was feasible either and the DOT came through." He would not agree to leave the road as-is, though, saying the congestion on County Line has become critically bad. On the county level of service gauge, he noted, the road is near failure. Commission Chairwoman Nancy Robinson said the county Metropolitan Planning Organization should take the noise issue into consideration as it looks at how it will schedule the design phases, right-of-way purchases and construction time line. "It needs to come up at the MPO so it can be discussed with the county and state sitting there," Robinson said. "We need to make sure it's in the mix as the project evolves." Cooper planned to participate in all the meetings he can find about the County Line Road project. He learned that no walls were in the plan during a workshop at Springstead High School earlier this month, and has placed his name on a list for advisories as meetings arise. "These trucks get roaring, especially the diesel trucks," he said. "When I sit on my lanai with coffee, it's, "What did I spend all this money for?"
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