Noise Wall News 

LATEST NOISE WALL NEWS

Nov. 4, 2022:  Valley Ridge Noise Wall Now in Place:  During the fall / last quarter of 2022, Alberta Transportation finally concluded an expensive 2-year process of replacing their original and ineffective Valley Ridge noise wall (Figure 1) with a new and higher Valley Ridge noise wall (Figure 2).  The community appreciates Alberta Transportation's efforts to understand the concerns impacted residents were forced to endure with the original noise wall and ultimately to do the right thing  by installing a new and more effective noise wall closer to the edge of the roadway.  Having said that, a number of unaddressed ring road issues remain that continue to impact residents backing along the south boundary of Valley Ridge that AT continues to disregard. 

Both noise walls are 169 metres in length, and situated along the north side of the westbound Trans Canada Highway off-ramp, south of homes on Valley Meadow Close NW.  At 2.5 metres in height, the new noise wall provides more effective noise and privacy mitigation for these homes that are as close as 7 metres from the edge of the off-ramp.   Prior to disassembly (Figure 3), the original noise wall was installed three to four feet downslope of incoming traffic, less than one metre away from and below the top of the community’s perimeter fence.

REMAINING ISSUES OF CONCERN:  Alberta Transportation has stated they will not address other WCRR-related concerns including:

1. Extension of the Valley Meadow Close noise wall (or with a functional equivalent) further eastward to replace the now-removed pre-existing noise and visual earthen berm that extended south of property lines along Valley Brook Circle.  Further, once relocated, the noise wall also needs to be extended further west so as to provide effective noise shielding for the last, westernmost, residence on Valley Meadows Close,

2. Replacement of the pre-existing berm,

3. Rehabilitations and landscaping details regarding the bank between the ramp and the community’s perimeter fence,

4. Streetlight pollution is a noted concern for many residents along the north TUC boundary both east and west of Valley Ridge Boulevard.  An example of one solution could be the installation of  shielded lighting fixtures on all streetlights so as to minimize the lighting  impact on nearby properties.  Headlight pollution also remains a concern for residents along Valley Meadows Close, Valley Brook Circle and the condominiums of Valley Ridge Heights. Relocation of the Valley Meadow Close noise wall and implementation of point 1 above will mitigate this issue for residents east of Valley Ridge Boulevard.  The elevation of the westbound on-ramp to the TCH is coincident with the main / second floor of many Valley Ridge Heights condominiums immediately adjacent to the TUC boundary.  The VRCRG recommends the installation of a lighting / privacy / noise shielding along the north edge of this on-ramp to mitigate the impact on these condominiums,

5. Aesthetics concerns, and

6.  Vehicle exhaust pollution concerns have been expressed by many residents as a health and safety issue given the close proximity and elevation differences of nearby ramps, both east and west of Valley Ridge Boulevard.  The VRCRG requests that the ambient air quality be monitored at several locations  along the north edge of the TUC boundary both east and west of Valley Ridge Boulevard  once construction is complete.  Further, the impact of various issues raised by the Valley Ridge Heights condominium Board.

AT has also publicly stated they will repair damages to the rear yard swale at one home along Valley Meadow Close caused by the installation of the original noise wall in late 2020.

Community support:  It was only the result of strong and sustained public opposition by impacted residents and the Valley Ridge Concerned Resident’s Group (VRCRG) that Alberta Transportation finally relented and constructed a new noise wall in a more effective location closer to the edge of the roadway.  As part of this two-year process, the VRCRG organized and coordinated an opinion survey; and various meetings with most impacted residents, two Ministers of Transportation (McIver and Sawhney), our MLA, Demetrios Nicolaides, and our Ward 1 Councillor, Sonya Sharp. 

We are hopeful the new noise wall will mitigate a portion of the increased traffic noise and loss of privacy experienced by nearby residents.

PRE-2022 HISTORY:

Second Ministerial Site Visit: September 10, 2021:  The then Minister of Transportation, MLA Rajan Sawhney, accompanied AT's Project Director, Mr. Shane De Lorey, on a site visit to the Valley Ridge noise wall.  Afterwards, the Minister met with VRCRG representatives and several impacted residents also in attendance.  This is a link to the VRCRG's slide presentation.  Of note, was Minister Sawhney's announcement confirming that AT would move the noise wall further upslope, past the slope’s mid-way point with the edge of the adjacent ramp. We are hopeful, we can continue to work constructively to address some of the remaining issues, including the berm replacement, loss of privacy, light & exhaust pollution. Minister Sawhney also committed that her department would investigate the various inequities evident between Valley Ridge and other ring road communities.  We have had no further feedback from AT on these inequities.

AT's new Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rajan Sawhney, was appointed on July 8, 2021. 

First Ministerial Site Visit, April 9, 2021: In his email to the VRCRG on June 7, 2021, former Minister of Transportation, MLA Ric McIver, backed away from delivering on all his key commitments made during his April 9th site visit.

"Move the Valley Ridge Noise Wall Petition" was kicked off in March 2021.  We now have 1,071 supporters as of Sept. 10, 2021.  Please share this link with all your friends in VR:  http://chng.it/4R2RmFSfcq    

Read and watch CTV News' piece from March 7, 2021

The original, ineffective Valley Ridge noise wall was installed in Q4 2020.