MTA to Begin Work on Sound Barriers

The first stage of the plan to construct a rail line on the Chandler Boulevard median is set to begin late this week, according to officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

MTA officials have spent the last few weeks meeting with community associations to discuss the project.

Workers will clear the median of debris west of the Hollywood Freeway and then begin grading to smooth the land in preparation for the construction of sound walls.

“It’s a fairly simple procedure that should be completed relatively quickly,” said Steve Pippen, lead public affairs officer in charge of the Red Line construction.

Once the grading is complete, construction of the 16-foot-high wooden sound walls will begin. The walls, which will be built on either side of the Chandler median from Colfax Avenue to the MTA’s North Hollywood station, will quiet noise during the rail-welding, which will be done at a temporary welding facility.

“The facility is basically one long trailer. It even has wheels on it,” Pippen said. The length of the welding facility is about five standard trailers long, he said.

After the welding is completed, the MTA, which owns the property, will store the welded track until it can be assembled as part of the subway line starting at the station, Pippen said.

MTA officials estimate the project will take no more than 18 months, he said.

The Chandler Boulevard rail line is the final stage of the Red Line subway, one of the projects spared recently when the MTA decided to delay and reassess its various subway projects.

The work on the median has some nearby residents worried about high noise levels as well as the tall sound walls’ drawing the attention of vandals.