The City of Fort Worth is continuing its efforts to mitigate noise from flight traffic.
Fort Worth has requested an additional $15 million from the FAA to dampen noise in residential communities near Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport. If approved, it will bring the total to $34 million in federal grants to reduce aircraft noise.
City officials plan to use these funds for a noise abatement program for the Rivers Edge neighborhood, according to NBC DFW. This residential community is only a few miles north of the airport.
Perot Field is not the only airport that has recently had noise concerns from local communities. Construction projects at McKinney National Airport have elicited a number of noise-related concerns and the ire of some nearby community members, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The FAA has adopted a scale to categorize noise levels in residential areas known as Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL). This scale is sued to measure the average person’s exposure to sound levels over the course of a day.
According to this scale, a level of 50 is considered quiet, akin to a suburban residential neighborhood, whereas a level of 70 is considered very noisy, akin to an urban residential neighborhood. The FAA reports that a DNL level of 65 is considered “the threshold of significant noise exposure.” Noise levels below a DNL of 65 in a residential area would be acceptable.
In order for homeowners to receive the grant from the FAA, they had to agree to allow the airport to freely use the airspace above their houses. Homes were then fitted with sound insulation that would reduce noise by at least 5 decibels, according to Community Impact.
Thus far, 53 homes have received noise insulation, and another 150 are in the process of receiving it. The City hopes to complete the work by the end of 2024.
Julianne Ceravalo, a resident of Rivers Edge since 2016, told NBC that she and her family had started this process last summer and that military aircraft were the biggest problem.
“Military jets fly over all the time, too. That’s really, really noisy. Sometimes we get used to the regular airplanes, small aircraft but the big jets are the noisy ones,” said Ceravalo, according to NBC. “If we have windows open, we have to stop our conversation. If we’re talking to a neighbor, we sometimes have to stop our conversation,” she continued.
The FAA’s decision is expected in August.