Lawsuit focuses on Memorial Park freeway noise

Sure, the Katy Freeway reconstruction is wiping out a lot of homes and businesses in a push to cover west Houston with concrete — no big deal. But when it comes to Memorial Park, some residents think the construction is going a little too far. Bill and Carol Ware have filed suit against TxDOT and the Federal Highway Administration claiming that the new Katy Freeway/West Loop interchange will violate federal protections against noise pollution in the park.

The Wares are especially upset about a 75-foot-high ramp that will be built alongside Memorial Park, which they claim will carry traffic noise well into the park. Though they say traffic noise in the park will be 100 percent greater than the federal standard when the project is finished, the construction is technically legal because of a 15-year-old exclusion that OK'd widening the West Loop without conducting a noise analysis study. When the Katy widening was added to the drawing board, the exclusion covered it, too.

The Wares' suit asks TxDOT to call an immediate halt to West Loop construction near the park until an independent noise analysis can be performed and asks for quiet pavement or noise-absorbing walls on the sections of the freeway near the park; TxDOT hasn't commented on the matter. If you're concerned about the noise, the Citizens' Transportation Coalition has a statement of support for noise analysis you can download and send in.