Will we be taxed for a million dollar soundwall for Marinwood Village Sound Wall too?

 Will Marinwood Village be surrounded with a 16 foot soundwall like this? Who will pay for it?

 Will the 101 entrance to  Marinwood be surrounded with a soundwall like this?  Yes!  According to guidelines by Caltrans., just as soon as they have the time and money to build it. These soundwalls currently cost 2.4 million dollars per mile and paid for by funding from the state or LOCAL COMMUNITY*.  see  Cal Trans Soundwall guidelines and  Cost.

The website also specifies :

"Because the demand for soundwalls has far exceeded the funding to build them, a priority waiting list has been developed. This waiting list is based on a formula, which combines noise levels, number of living units and cost effectiveness to produce a ranking."

But soundwalls also kill retail business.  This will make it even more difficult for Marinwood Market to survive. San Juan Capistrano lost many successful businesses after a similar soundwall was built : Soundwall kills business

And what about Graffetti?  Although the Marinwood  sound wall surrounding Blackstone has stayed relatively clean, will the new soundwall create more opportunities for tagging as has been the problem in downtown San Rafael?



Freeway Soundwalls are frequently tagged with  graffetti.

*  From http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/resources/soundwalls/samples/synopsis.htm

FUNDING METHODS

 

Traditional Financing

 

The California Transportation Commission is the approving body for program and project level funding. Recent legislation (SB 45 - STIP Reform) may have an impact upon the programming of soundwalls. During the implementation of SB 45, Caltrans works closely with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) and the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to program soundwall projects along with various other transportation needs.

Soundwalls, which come under new or major reconstruction projects, are automatically included as a part of the project design. Soundwalls, which are retrofitted to existing freeways, fall under the Community Noise Abatement Program. Under Commission policy, this program is subject to available funding. Since funding is limited, a priority list has been developed to rank future projects.

Payback Option

State law allows cities or counties to construct eligible soundwalls ahead of the time that they would be built under traditional funding. Then, when the funding priority is eventually reached, CALTRANS would reimburse the local agency for the actual cost. Its important to note that reimbursement does not include interest.

Benefit Assessment District

Some local agencies are considering a benefit assessment district whereby residents in effect tax themselves under some formula to generate funding. Under this method bonding could be used for early construction at the expense of a longer payback.

Special Legislation

Soundwalls have occasionally been funded and constructed by Special State legislation. These have occurred outside of CALTRANS' and the California Transportation Commission's process.