Jersey Village City Council passed a resolution at its Oct. 21 meeting to enter into a contract with CSTI Acoustics—a consulting company that specializes in acoustics and noise. CSTI will measure sound levels at three sites along Hwy. 290 in Jersey Village. The data will be used in the city's ongoing efforts to determine noise mitigation needs.

The specific locations of the three sites will be finalized after meeting with property owners in the targeted areas, City Manager Mike Castro said. He said ideally the sites will cover areas of varying noise levels.

"We wanted to establish a baseline for future reference," Castro said. "One point will necessarily be behind a [future] sound wall, while another point may be more into the interior of Jersey Village."

Once sites are finalized, Castro said he expects the project to move forward as soon as possible. Sound data will be gathered at each site for a period of four weeks.

"Four weeks will allow us enough variance in terms of weather conditions and in terms of roadway conditions," he said.

The Texas Department of Transportation plans to implement several noise mitigation concepts along Hwy. 290 in Jersey Village including the installation of longitudinal grooving on the highway's main lanes and the construction of a 16-foot-tall concrete sound wall that will run from Senate Avenue about 3,000 feet to the west.

Jersey Village resident and former councilman Mark Maloy commented at the meeting, urging city council and staff to continue discussing noise abatement options with TxDOT.

"The citizens of Jersey Village have signed at least three petitions and have attended countless meetings to express their concerns about the existing roadway noise emission problem and the future increase in roadway noise," Maloy said. "They are not going to get the noise reduction they are asking for with what TxDOT is proposing."

The CSTI study will cost an estimated $23,000. Mayor Rod Erskine said having data on sound levels will be beneficial in future discussions with TxDOT.

"Having some documentation with scientific merit is exactly what TxDOT would recognize in good science," he said. "Having that in your pocket is useful. It's hard to explain things are loud when you can't actually document what that degree of loudness is."