I-25 noise wall completed in front of Holland Park
Rockrimmon Constructors completed the Holland Park noise wall last week as part of the I-25 widening (COSMIX) project.
The half-mile long wall stands an average of 16 feet high, took approximately four months to complete and used 1,100 cubic
yards of cement, according to a Rock-rimmon Constructors press release.
The new wall reduces highway noise levels by nearly seven decibels, the press release adds. Exact costs were not available, but a rough Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT ) estimate puts the price between $800,000 and $900,000. Following an alley that goes behind about 70 residences on the east side of Chestnut Street, the new wall is between Ellston Street and just south of Colorado Technical University. In random interviews this week, two Holland Park residents who live right behind the new wall told the Westside Pioneer they have noticed a drop in noise levels, while others farther back did not. Chad Lee, who has lived for a year in the Foxfire West apartment complex at 4331 N. Chestnut Street - in a building overlooking the interstate - said he's pleased with how fast the wall went up and that it's made a “tremendous difference. You can still hear the cars, but not as much.” He likes the visual improvement as well. “I used to look out the windows at the freeway,” Lee said. “Now I don't have that eyesore.” A similar opinion was expressed by Amber Morris, who lives in the 4200 block of Chestnut, also on the east side of the street, next to the wall. The noise “is not as bad as it was,” she said, adding that the drop-off was especially profound in comparison with her former residence off Fillmore and Chestnut near American Furniture Warehouse, where there is no wall. The west side of Chestnut rises in elevation from the east side, which may explain why a long-time resident on that side, Daniel Harvey, said he believes there's “not really all that much” difference since the wall went in. “It cost a lot of money, but didn't do much good,” he said. Two other Holland Park residents living west of Chestnut Street - who declined to give their names - also commented that the amount of freeway noise was about the same as before. Rockrimmon Construc-tors started work on the noise wall in mid-July by shaping a uniformly angled hillside along the drop-off between the alley and down to the interstate. Crews also relocated utilities and drainage systems before installing the wall along the east side of the alley. Miscellaneous work is to take place this spring, when temperatures warm up, to finish landscaping and improvements to the alley behind the wall. Westside Pioneer article |