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Loud and clear

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Noise from the Suncoast Parkway has residents up in arms.
A Hillsborough County neighborhood is battling with state leaders because they said the Department of Transportation (DOT) promised to build a noise barrier along the Suncoast Parkway.

Residents living in Cheval West met with the DOT Tuesday night.

The neighbors said when crews started building the toll road almost a decade ago, the DOT promised a continuous noise wall, but only a partial one has been built.

Transportation managers said what's there meets federal and state guidelines and a continuous wall was never promised.

The DOT said a wall isn't going to eliminate noise, only reduce it. 

Local lawmakers attending the meeting said they came across a piece of paper that could solve the dispute. A letter from the DOT to Cheval residents dated 1999 promised a continuous wall.
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The DOT says a wall on the roadway will only reduce noise, not eliminate it.

"If a turnpike official in 1999 in this letter promised to your community that we'll build continuous noise walls, we will build continuous noise walls," Florida Turnpike Executive Director James L. Ely said.

The DOT said it wants to take a week to review the letter.

Ely is also suggesting more noise tests for the Cheval area to see if the sound levels warrant an extended noise wall.

The DOT estimates the cost to complete the sound barrier will be $2 million per mile.

 




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