Many residents of the upper York County Queens Lake neighborhood are concerned the Interstate 64 widening will mean more freeway noise in their backyards and more erosion issues for the lake.
Dozens of residents sent emails to the Virginia Department of Transportation this summer asking for the installation of noise barriers and efforts to minimize stormwater runoff and lake erosion.
A VDOT PowerPoint presentation from May says VDOT plans to install two noise barriers near mile marker 241, just south of Colonial Parkway, but says it is “not reasonable” that two sound barriers would be installed just to the north of that, adjacent to the Queens Lake and Creekside Landing neighborhoods.
“Noise from the highway was an issue raised by two residents during the Segment II Public Hearing,” the VDOT PowerPoint reads. “These barriers were identified as feasible but not reasonable because there are not enough benefited receptors to justify the required length of noise wall.”
“Benefited receptors” are households that will benefit from at least five decibels of noise reduction from sound walls, said Paula Miller, VDOT spokeswoman. It’s one of the factors VDOT considers when deciding where to build noise barriers.
But despite the wording of the May PowerPoint, which alarmed many residents of the Queens Lake neighborhood, the sound walls may actually still be built, said Miller.
“It is still very much a possibility because a new noise analysis will be performed during the design phase in 2018,” said Miller.
After seeing the PowerPoint — which is posted to VDOT’s website as part of an 88-page Segment III Record of Decision Request — dozens of Queens Lake and Creekside Landing residents sent public comments to VDOT expressing their disappointment and asking for the noise walls to be built.
*”The ‘two residents’ that were mentioned were representing our broader community when they attended the meeting mentioned,” wrote Thomas Rooker, the Queen Lake Community Association’s community affairs director, in a letter to VDOT on behalf of the association. “What metrics go into determining feasibility and reasonability of sound barriers?”
*”The noise from the interstate is extremely loud,” Kim Holland, a Queens Lake resident, wrote to VDOT. “So much so that it wakes me up at night sometimes. It is very distracting and bothersome. After the expansion it will be worse. It is un-acceptable that the welfare and concerns for Queens Lake and surrounding area residents is being ignored.”
*”It is critical to have sound walls erected with the I-64 widening to protect the value of the property owners in Queens Lake, as well as their sanity and well-being,” wrote another resident, Kathleen Pock. “Currently, the sound travels across the water (lake) and is far louder than anyone would expect, especially at night and early morning.”
A design public hearing for the third segment, which includes the Queens Lake area, will be held May 18, according to the VDOT website. The request for proposals for the third segment will go out in July, Miller said.
The Queens Lake neighborhood includes about 550 homes and dates back to 1952.
“There’s almost nowhere you can go and not hear the highway,” said Lynn Maltinsky, an association member who oversees the lake.
Lake concerns
In addition to the noise wall, many residents are concerned that the freeway expansion could cause further erosion and stormwater runoff issues to Queens Lake — just south of Queen Creek, which I-64 crosses over.
“We have problems now, and if we don’t address them in this expansion, it’s not going to be anything like it is right now,” Rooker said. “This is the opportunity we have to get it right and do stormwater management.”
The lake is beloved to the community and used for boating, fishing and other activities, but the silt that has collected at the bottom has made the lake much more shallow, Maltinsky said.
As a result, the association can’t rent out 10 of its boat slips, said Rooker.
“Our concern as a community is with the additional lanes going in, you’re going to have increased runoff,” Maltinsky said.
Maltinsky is not against the widening, he said, as congestion needs to be alleviated, but just wants to make sure VDOT follows the environmental guidelines.
“We are glad it’s being widened … our biggest concern is once it’s done, we want to make sure the problem we have with stormwater runoff is hopefully better as opposed to worse,” said Maltinsky.
Miller said VDOT will ensure the interstate construction does not negatively impact any of the surrounding areas, including verification of adequacy of all outfalls.
“Any outfalls used in the interstate stormwater design that are not adequate will be improved,” said Miller.
Clift can be reached by phone at 757-247-7870.
