A proposed northbound MoPac sound wall has riled up neighboring residents enough to gain Austin City Council's attention.

The Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority have proposed building a 1-mile-long sound wall on the east side of MoPac along Great Northern Boulevard from RM 2222 to Stoneway Drive as part of the MoPac Improvement Project that will add express toll lanes in each direction.

Construction on the first of 19 sound walls spanning 7 miles begins in the spring, and work on Sound Wall No. 3 is scheduled to start by summer—if neighboring protesters do not postpone the project or force its cancellation.

"We've been pretty actively protesting," said Louis Laves-Webb, whose Great Northern Boulevard property faces MoPac. "We went to [the Mobility Authority] and tried to speak but ran into a brick wall with them. That's when we approached City Council."

City Council unanimously passed a resolution Dec. 12 asking city staff to work with TxDOT and the Mobility Authority to "revisit its approval" of Sound Wall No. 3. Specifically, the resolution addresses the portion of the wall north of Bullard Drive.

Residents originally expressed support for the project through a survey, but upon learning the wall will abut Great Northern Boulevard and stand 20 feet tall, many neighbors asked to change their vote.

"I voted yes not realizing there was going to be this 20-foot-high monstrosity in front of our school," said Don Goertz, president of Austin Montessori on Great Northern Boulevard.

For now, construction plans have not changed for Sound Wall No. 3, said Steve Pustelnyk, director of community relations for the MoPac Improvement Project. The Mobility Authority is in regular communication with the city of Austin, he said.

"We're still in the design phase, so if design changes should necessitate moving the wall and doing more outreach with the residents, that would be something we'd of course do as well," Pustelnyk said. "There are several things in the works that could change directions depending on how [discussions with the city] evolve."