$1 million mound of dirt only a visual barrier

SPRING HILL -- Joanne Hurley wants to make one thing clear: the $1 million mound of dirt dumped on the Suncoast parkway side of Silverthorn Golf and Country Club will not be a noise barrier.

It may eventually help buffer some of the traffic noise Silverthorn residents hear but that is not its main purpose, said Hurley, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

"The residents asked us for a noise wall," Hurley said. "We did not provide that. Instead, we provided some landscape buffering."

For the next four months, workers will create a 40-foot wide, 6-foot high berm that will extend from the eastern rear of Silverthorn along the Suncoast Parkway.

Eventually, more vegetation will go on top of the berm, extending it another 6 to 8 feet, Hurley said.

"It will create a nice visual barrier is all it will create, she said, discounting reports that it will create a "noise wall" and eliminating sound.

The $1 million cost is for trucking in 6,500 dump truck loads of dirt to the site, brining in vegetation and other materials, an irrigation system and short-term maintenance of the buffer, she said.

Most Silverthorn residents are happy with the FDOT's landscape berm, said Bob Mackey, president of the Silverthorn Homeowners Association. They realize, he said, there is no wall or barrier than can eliminate sound entirely.

However, Mackey believes the landscape buffer will act as a "physiological barrier" by blocking out the view of the parkway.

"If you can see a highway, we know there's noise and the noise seems louder," Mackey said. "If you can't see it, it doesn't tend to be as bad."

Of the 801 homes in Silverthorn, about 150 are situated directly next to the parkway. If one of those homeowners happens to be on his outdoor porch, the noise from the traffic going 60-70 mph can be deafening, according to Mackey. If a truck goes by, it's like being next to a railroad track, he said.

Silverthorn residents, he said, have received an education since originally asking FDOT for a so-called noise wall, Mackey said. Today, they will settle for it being "out of sigh, out of mind."

"I think the residents understand the nature of the expected results," he said. "They're not looking for a miracle. They are looking for some mitigation to the noise problem."