News and Events | Glen Mill Sound Wall

Residents of the Glen Mill area in Grogan's Mill have asked for a sound wall to be built. The sound walll will buffer noise from traffic on Interstate 45 and the new $2.8 million southbound flyover from Woodlands Parkway to the freeway that was completed and opened to traffic on December 15.

A noise study was completed for the proposed area for the noise wall, along the mud ditch behind commercial businesses from Woodlands Parkway to Rayford/Sawdust Road. This noise barrier should reduce the sound level at the residential locations adjacent to the barrier (the northeast side of Deerfoot Circle) by 5.7 to 10.5 dVA. At three sites, modeled on the other side of Deerfoot Circle, the reduction is 5.1 to 5.4 dBA.

If you are concerned about the proposed sound wall, please express your views to your state representative. The residents of Glen Mill have provided a sample letter that you are free to use.

The following pictures are of a sound wall in Denver that show a noise barrier can be beautiful and functional.

The sound wall is clean and not a blockade for blown debris.

This house across the street from the wall is valued at $450,000 and 500,000.

The sound wall is decorated with bas relief buffalo and flora and fauna.

As Pam Fontenot reported to you on July 27th the noise wall issue is still being debated with the Texas Department of Transportation. As reported The Woodlands Community Association hired the Carter Blackburn law firm, they specialize in environmental law and working with TxDOT. Several meetings have been held with TxDOT, the law firm, WCA President Tangen and Miles McKinney of The Community Associations staff.

TxDOT had construction and cost problems with the original proposal which was to put up a wall that would basically run along the back property line of residents on Deerfoot Circle.

A new proposal was put forward to them suggesting that the wall be placed along TxDOT's right-of-way along the north side of the MUD ditch on Woodlands This would effectively fill-in the empty spaces under the flyover, it would continue to along the east side of the MUD ditch to the property line of the pet boarding facility. Another wall would be placed between the feeder and the main southbound lanes of I-45 their right of way. Last week TxDOT indicated they continued to have engineering and money problems with our proposal and suggested their alternative. TxDOT believes the optimum location of the wall would be the east bank of MUD Ditch 9X (behind the businesses on the frontage road). TxDOT has committed to looking at the north/east side of Ditch 9X for a second sound wall. They will explore the possibility of erecting a wall along Woodlands Parkway on Montgomery County and Woodlands Development Company right-of -way and provide feedback when they have completed their work.

Building the sound wall on the east bank of Ditch 9X will require approval/participation of the Woodlands Development Company, Montgomery County, the Woodlands Joint Powers Agency/MUDs and the San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA). SJRA holds a 20 foot water line easement on the east bank of Ditch 9X. Mr. McKinney has had discussions with the SJRA who will need to decide if they give us the easement. The WCA is waiting for a letter from TxDOT, defining their commitment, before they ask SJRA for this easement.

We are not happy about what has happened. We had hoped to be able to report that we had a commitment for a wall. However, your community leaders are still dedicated to finding a way to protect Glen Mill from the noise on I-45. We may well need the individual support from each and every one of you to go to our political leaders to help us in getting the action that is required.

You are all invited to the next Grogan's Mill Village Association Meeting on September 19th where an update on the wall will be presented.

Pam Fontenot - Glen Mill resident
Joe Giovanniello- President GMVA
Cheryl Crandall Tangen - President -- WCA

The noise wall issue is moving forward with the WCA's hiring of a law firm that specializes in environmental law and working with TxDOT. This firm was instrumental in getting the wall built for the Bellaire neighborhood, along 59 and Loop 610. The WCA staff has spent many, many hours working on this issue for us and incurred some considerable expense, particularly with the hiring of the law firm and the funding of the 2nd noise study.

I need you to consider very seriously the implications of the wall being built behind your homes that back up to the MUD ditch. These are the issues I want to bring to your attention before the WCA spends any more money with the law firm and before the law firm takes the issue to TxDOT. It would be very bad if the majority of residents came back to the WCA and told them that they didn't agree to the consequences of having the wall built behind their homes because they weren't informed of these issues ahead of time. Or if the lawyer got agreement with TxDOT to build the wall and then the residents came out against it.

Light - you may lose some light in your backyards. The wall could be 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 feet high in some places, blocking out some of the light that you get in your backyards now.

The looks of the wall - you may see 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 feet of the wall as it appears over your backyard fence.

Construction crew access - you may have to permit access by construction and/or utility crews into your yards during construction and after construction. You wouldn't incur any charges if a part of the backyard fence needed to be removed and replaced for access of construction equipment or if the yard got trenched by the crews' vehicles.

These are the only issues that I can think of now. If I become aware of more, I will certainly let you know. Also, the wall MAY NOT be built directly behind your property line, but along the flyover and the access road to 45, but that design hasn't been confirmed yet. What I am giving you is worst-case scenario.

Remember: The planned wall would reduce the noise in your backyards by as much as 50% as documented in the 1st and 2nd noise studies.

Please let me hear from you if you cannot agree to these consequences or some variation of them. You can also reach me at pam@gmva.org. Please do not wait to respond. I must hear from you if you cannot live with the consequences of the wall. Also, when you respond, give me your full name, address and phone number so I can keep track of who has responded.

The reduction in noise will help our property values and I don't think that the appearance will be as big a deterrent to a prospective buyer as the noise currently is. I will be coming by your home if your house backs up to the ditch to make sure you understand these consequences and to make sure you agree to them.