March 11. By Dave Vieser. Well, it’s also an auditory nightmare for some people who live near I-77 as construction continues on the new toll lanes—regardless of whether the toll plan will be ditched by such forces as the Lake Norman Chamber and Widen I-77.org.

Efforts by DOT/Cintra/I 77 Mobility Partners and its toll lane construction crews to reduce the noise from vehicles crossing over rumble strips have thus far not been successful. The issue came up again at the March meeting of the Lake Norman Regional Transportation Commission in Cornelius.

After being questioned by Chairwoman Melinda Bales, DOT spokesman Warren Cooksey said, “We’ve done some work over there recently. Have you noticed any difference?”

Apparently not from a sampling of the comments Cornelius Today received on Facebook:

• “The noise is much worse,” according to Becky Barbee. “I live in Magnolia Estates close to Publix and hear it inside my home all day and night.”
• “No change here,” said Tony Stafford. “I live in Victoria Bay and hear it clearly at night.”
• “I live in Bahia Bay down Torrence Chapel Road and can hear them running all over the strips when I’m getting ready in the morning,” noted Heather McWilliams.

Ron Vanderbilt said the “rumble strips and grooves caused by the removal of painted lines are dangerous. Cintra and the NCDOT are jointly negligent in allowing this condition to continue.”

While on the subject of noise:

Plans are for noise walls along the construction area, but Cooksey said they “are the last step in the project…probably not going in until 2018.”