Contractor to Limit Construction Noise after Resident Complaints

Residents of Jolly Road in northern Plymouth Township may be in for some relief, after the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says a contractor will take actions to mitigate nighttime construction noise along the Northeast Extension.

Patch reported last week that a group of residents, led by Carolyn Nickels, brought their concerns to the PTC after they claimed to have lost sleep and quality of life due to the nightly construction noise. The ongoing construction is part of a road widening and repair project scheduled for completion in 2014, and many residents say they were told beforehand that nighttime construction noise would be minimal.

The group also reached out to local officials, including state senator Daylin Leach, who wrote a letter to the PTC asking that nighttime construction cease. Commission spokeswoman Mimi Doyle told Patch at the time that the PTC was working with contractor Walsh Construction to come up with possible solutions.

In a letter to residents late last week, the PTC revealed those solutions:

"In light of specific concerns that have been raised, representatives from the Commission’s engineering department recently met with the construction project manager (McTish Kunkel) and the contractor’s project manager (Walsh Construction). As a result of those discussions, the contractor has agreed to make the following changes:

• Using directional lighting in lieu of balloon lighting for better night-lighting control
• Switching to quieter on-site generators; and
• Silencing back-up alarms on all construction vehicles."

According to the letter, the changes took effect last week. In addition, the letter reiterated that Walsh is contractually required to keep noise below certain decibel levels, although it did not state whether the levels would be independently verified.

"If legitimate complaints are generated due to construction noise levels, the contractor is to take corrective action to bring noise levels within acceptable standards," the letter read. "ln the contract between the PTC and Walsh Construction, noise levels are to be monitored in order to verify that levels are in compliance with the provisions in the contract and, if not, the contractor must develop alternate means of mitigating noise in order to execute the work activity when there is not a better alternative."

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