SAN DIEGO - Caltrans has done something never seen in California before. Deep grooves now stretch on a small area of Interstate 5 in North County and Caltrans says the results are in -- the “next generation concrete surface” has made the area much quieter and the residents much happier.
Image Source: www.10news.com
Corridor residents 10News spoke to who live along the stretch of the I-5 between Via de la Valle and Lomas Santa Fe say the newly paved surface has been "life-changing."
“I’ve lived just up the hill for 30 years and [the noise] only increased over time,” said Cathy Borgia. “It was pretty bad, bad enough for me that I had to wear ear plugs to sleep at night.”
Borgia says the freeway noise issue has gotten much better in the last year and that even the morning commutes are quiet. 10News reporter Natasha Zouves strapped a GoPro to the side of a news van to see the reason why. The new paving technique works to reduce noise by making deep grooves in the road.
Caltrans says up to 90 percent of freeway noise is made when tires hit the pavement. The new grooves reduce the noise by about five decibels. But, perhaps more importantly, the grooves also change the frequency of the sound, making it much harder for the human ear to hear.
The GoPro footage 10News captured clearly shows the difference in noise. On the new surface, the driver can barely hear cars passing by.
The project began in May of 2012 and wrapped up in August.
“The project has been so successful, we’ve received two awards in the last three months,” said Arturo Jacobo of Caltrans. “We are very pleased with the results. For the residents that live adjacent to the corridor they can see the difference and hear the difference. We plan to use this technique in the upcoming North Coast Corridor Project.”
$3.2 Billion will go to the area between La Jolla Village Drive and Harbor Drive in Oceanside in the upcoming North Coast Corridor Project. Jacobo says the project will use this new paving technique and that, surprisingly, it comes at no extra cost. Four express lanes will be added to the existing eight lanes and construction will begin in late 2015.
10News spotted another resident of the corridor enjoying his bagels right next to the newly-ground freeway. Ron Carey is of another mind about peace and quiet. The New York native says in all the years he has been here, San Diego has never been too loud.
“This is quiet. The weather is great, people are very quiet here and you never see them, so it’s great,” said resident Ron Carey. “Don’t complain."
Established in 2000, United Paving Company is an asphalt paving contractor serving the counties in Southern California, including Orange County, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura. For more details, visit this website.
