This $2 billion highway expansion prompts concerns about noise, tree removal in Arlington
When Shelley Ames and her family of five moved into the Willow Bend subdivision in Arlington last year, she was attracted to the shady front yards and friendly neighbors. She had not heard of the Southeast Connector, a $2 billion project the Texas Department of Transportation says will transform a 16-mile stretch of highway along Interstate 20, East Loop 820 and U.S. 287.
Ames’ home is right behind an I-20 access road, separated by a backyard fence and a tree-filled ditch. TxDOT plans to expand the access road from one to two lanes without building a noise barrier wall, which Ames and her neighbors fear will lead to increased traffic and the inescapable sound of cars whizzing by.
“Had we known that something like that was in the works, I don’t know if I would have chosen to live right here,” Ames said. “I don’t want them to take down our tall trees right behind our fence that help with the sound and certainly help with the view.”
The Southeast Connector, which has been moving steadily forward since 2017, will affect parts of Fort Worth and Arlington when construction begins in late 2021 and continues through 2026, according to TxDOT plans. About 24 businesses and residential buildings are slated to be destroyed in east Fort Worth, with owners receiving compensation for their properties, said Rep. Nicole Collier, who represents the area in the state legislature.
“It’s bound to happen with most projects: businesses are going to be displaced and homes are going to be displaced, but the state is going to have to offer compensation for that,” Collier said. “The only thing you can ask for is cooperation, and that is what TxDOT has been providing in terms of my district.”
While Fort Worth residents have been working with local representatives and neighborhood associations to hammer out details of the project since 2018, Arlington residents say they have only learned about plans to clear out several acres of trees and expand lanes near their homes in the past few months. The city of Arlington last held a meeting with TxDOT concerning the project in June 2018, according to TxDOT documents.
“This was the first that I had heard anything of it when it popped up on Nextdoor a few weeks ago,” said Kathy Mitchell, an Arlington resident who serves on the city’s Citizens Environmental Committee. “They have held lots of meetings, especially in Fort Worth, but there’s been nothing that really addressed us here and all we got was that public hearing that was held online.”
Val Lopez, a spokesperson for TxDOT, said the agency has held more than 20 meetings and events to discuss the project with affected neighborhoods, businesses and municipalities. Those efforts have continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a virtual public hearing in June that made TxDOT plans available to residents through PowerPoint slides and a YouTube presentation.
Expanding lanes with the Southeast Connector is necessary in order to update the original 1960s design into a modern highway system that can meet the growing population and development needs in Tarrant County, Lopez said.
“The improvements, which include adding lanes and rebuilding approximately 16 miles of highway, will reduce congestion, improve mobility and enhance safety — key goals of both the department and our partners in mobility throughout the region,” Lopez said in an email.
Making noise for a sound barrier
Roy Hopkins, who lives next door to Ames in a home he has owned since 1981, has major concerns about the noise levels near the neighborhood. Using his iPhone, Hopkins has measured noise decibels on his backyard deck, which is right behind the access road.
Hopkins found that that the noise levels are consistently between 60 and 80 decibels, and he expects that number to increase once construction begins. Noise above 70 decibels over a long period of time may cause hearing loss, and noise over 120 decibels can cause immediate harm to ears, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
When Hopkins reported this issue to Curtis Loftis, TxDOT’s project manager for the Southeast Connector, Loftis told him “there is no proposed noise barrier” between Hopkins’ property and the eastbound I-20 frontage road, according to their email exchange.
“If it’s reasonable to build this whole Southeast Connector, a noise wall is peanuts,” Hopkins said. “That’s small potatoes compared with road construction. This is a simple wall, and if you look for noise barrier walls throughout the Metroplex, you’ll see ‘em everywhere.”
During the public hearing, TxDOT’s presentation noted that measures to address noise problems must be “both feasible and reasonable to be incorporated within the project.” In practice, this means that a sound barrier must reduce noise levels by at least five decibels to be considered economically feasible, Mitchell said. Mitchell’s submission to TxDOT asks for more details on how the agency determined that a sound wall would work on the south side of I-20 but not on the north side.
TxDOT has proposed 22 noise barriers along I-20, I-820 and U.S. 287 after conducting a traffic noise analysis using the Federal Highway Administration’s guidelines for analysis and abatement of roadway traffic noise, according to Lopez.
“TxDOT is currently evaluating the comments received during the public hearing earlier this summer, which would include any comments associated with noise barriers,” Lopez said.
Tree removal remains cause for concern
Mitchell, Hopkins and Ames say they are also skeptical that a lane expansion is even necessary near their Arlington neighborhood, noting a lack of traffic congestion on their section of I-20.
“They’re talking about trying to help with congestion and traffic, and all of us around here are just kind of laughing about that because there’s never any traffic at the stop lights around here,” Mitchell said. “Unless there’s some huge wreck or something, this part of the highway doesn’t even back up.”
Hopkins is pushing the agency to reconsider the need to add lanes all the way up to the Park Springs exit on I-20, and advocated for noise barriers to be constructed without destroying any trees.
“The trees line our subdivision and do provide a little eyesore relief from seeing the freeway,” Hopkins said. “That helps tremendously, and these trees are meaningful and give you a little noise attenuation.”
Mitchell, who volunteers with the environmental organization Liveable Arlington, points to maps showing that about 15 acres of trees are in danger of being cut down as a result of the project. This move could lead to increased land erosion near the Kee Branch Tributary, which has been the site of floods, and reduce the trees’ ability to cool the air, she said.
“We hate to see any loss of trees that are helping to reduce some of that heat coming off the highway as well as just the pollution that trees can help to filter out,” Mitchell said. “I am hopeful that they will listen to our concerns and preserve those trees, but I’m also concerned that they will dismiss our concerns in the name of what they consider to be progress.”
Environmental considerations have been a “substantive part” of TxDOT’s work on the Southeast Connector, Lopez said. The agency has determined that the project is “not expected to result in disproportionately high and adverse impacts to environmental justice populations,” according to TxDOT plans.
“Impacts to vegetation would be avoided or minimized by limiting disturbances to only those which are necessary to construct the proposed project,” Lopez said. “The removal of native vegetation, particularly mature native trees and shrubs, would be avoided to the greatest extent possible.”
The project does have some unique benefits for Tarrant County, Collier said, including moving traffic through the U.S. 287 corridor that has been a headache for commuters. In addition, TxDOT has increased its commitment to contract with minority-owned businesses in the region, which is a key priority of hers.
“We have a lot of bottleneck and congestion in that area so it is time that we have this investment in the community, and it’s going to provide opportunities for work for people in the area,” Collier said.
Arlington residents concerned about the connector say they recognize the opportunity to address traffic congestion and improve mobility. But Ames said she fears that her neighborhood may not maintain its value to homeowners and its reputation as a safe area for kids to play if TxDOT does not address local anxiety.
“We already have someone who is thinking about selling specifically because of this going on, so that makes me nervous that all our wonderful people are going to move,” Ames said. “And who wants to move in if there’s tons of traffic and you’re going to have an access road in your backyard with no barrier in between? A little fence doesn’t do it.”
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
