Hush

We live just a block west of the I-5 ship canal bridge, so people often ask if the noise bothers us. Well, we like to think of it as the roar of a river, like the Mighty Mississip, flowing from Canada to Mexico, and we’re blessed to live on its banks.

Self-deception is our favorite coping mechanism.

Fortunately, we’re getting some help from the state, as well. WSDOT engineers were deployed this past Tuesday and Wednesday near the south concrete portion of the bridge in the eastern shoulder of the express lanes and near the bridge at street level along Harvard Avenue E to collect data on noise levels. The data will be used to design a 1,000-foot test section of a noise-absorptive ceiling treatment that will be placed over the express lanes on the south concrete portion of the bridge in late Fall 2009.

This is all part of Washington’s ongoing effort to reduce noise from the ship canal bridge, which has been identified as one of the top noise reduction priorities in the State. Mitigation strategies may include:

• Noise-absorptive materials on the ceiling above the I-5 express lanes for reflective / reverberant noise
• Replacement or rehabilitation of the pavement
• Modify bridge barriers to block/absorb pavement noise

Though we’re saddened not to see “elimination of the use of motor vehicles” on the list, these are all welcome to changes to those of us living in the shadow the bridge.

Full details at WSDOT’s I-5 Ship Canal Bridge Noise Study web site.