The Village of Justice is about to break........

The monthly record for loudest month of traffic noise!  Yes!   Errrr....  I think that's bad?


I've been actively logging the daily traffic noise since March of this year.  So, last night I was getting ready for bed at around midnight and I could hear the traffic noise through our double pane windows.  I went out and took a quick reading 52dB all coming from the I-55 direction.  Seemed odd, as most traffic noise comes from the I-294 direction.  Who knows, maybe the heavy wooded lot that was (located at the end of Oak Grove) clear-cut by the village a couple of years ago lets the sound travel 1 MILE to my house and still be 52 dB.  I got up to go to the bathroom around 4 am and I could hear the traffic just as loud- so I took another reading at 52 dB.  When I left for work at 5:45 am it was still 52 dB-  does anybody else think this is a problem?

Oh, getting back to the record-  so far this month traffic noise is averaging 48.8 dB.  I find it hard to believe it will drop 1 full decibel before the end of the month- but who knows.  God, how I have become to love construction to lower the traffic noise!

Great job Village of Justice!  Reminds me of the time when someone running for the school board was politicking for re-election and told me he could get my street re-paved, yeah-right! 

In case you read this and don't wanna click the link to view these data.  Loudest day of this year was 59dB and the low was 36dB and the sound level that I and several neighbors remember was about 40dB for up until a few years ago.


Here is that link:

Traffic noise levels in the Village of Justice

Fustration.... The Village of Justice in Illinois needs to wake up!

I must be the only one in the entire Village of Justice that keeps track of noise levels.  Talked to even more neighbors that believe the noise levels have increased dramatically over the last few years (they brought it up).  I explained my day job and the project I've been doing, recording traffic noise daily, and we fascinated. It has been amazing how many times I talk to even random neighbors and they mention the traffic noise in the Village.  Sometime the levels of noise are INSANE at Commissioner's Park but hey, it's more important to fine people who walk dogs there than to start some program to reduce the traffic noise (I've recorded 70dB on two occasions at the park).




I took this from: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-levelchange.htm

Level change	Volume Loudness	Voltage Sound pressure	Acoustic Power Sound Intensity
+60 dB	64	1000	1000000
+50 dB	32	316	100000
+40 dB	16	100	10000
+30 dB	8	31.6	1000
+20 dB	4	10	100
+10 dB	2.0 = double	3.16 = √10	10
+6 dB	1.52 times	2.0 = double	4.0
+3 dB	1.23 times	1.414 times = √2	2.0 = double
- - - - ±0 dB - - - -	- - - - 1.0 - - - - - - -	- - - - 1.0 - - - - - - -	- - - - 1.0 - - - - -
−3 dB	0.816 times	0.707 times	0.5 = half
−6 dB	0.660 times	0.5 = half	0.25
−10 dB	0.5 = half	0.316	0.1
−20 dB	1/4 = 0.25	0.100	0.01
−30 dB	0.125	0.0316	0.001

56 dB traffic noise before 6am on November 2nd 2015

Very high level of traffic noise (No train, No Local Cars driving, No Plane Noise and No Rain) In this 200+ day project of recording sound levels in the Village of Justice, IL. As what could be considered par for the course- the noise is coming from the I-294 direction with only light traffic on Archer rd.  Hard to make light on the subject when one can remember a time that traffic noise was not an issue.



Record of traffic noise

A Whopping 57 dB of traffic noise before 6am in the Village of Justice IL

Highest level of traffic noise (No train, No Local Cars driving, No Plane Noise and No Rain) In this 200+ day project of recording sound levels in the Village of Justice, IL. As what could be considered par for the course- the noise is coming from the I-294 direction with only light traffic on Archer rd.  Hard to make light on the subject when one can remember a time that traffic noise was not an issue.

Hard to believe it can be this loud being 8/10 of a mile away (as a crow flies) from I294



Record of traffic noise

Loudest Month of traffic noise in the Village of Justice, IL.

August 2015 has been the loudest month of traffic noise since I started this project of recorded daily noise levels on March 1st 2015.  August narrowly beat July but again- I wish something would be done about the traffic noise.  We would rather not move, especially for all the time, effort and money we invested in our property.  The amount of traffic noise increased dramatically over the past 5 year!

I seem to be able to tell the next days level the night before.  e.g. last night around 11pm I recorded 51dB.



I just check and have over 2,000 views of my posts on the traffic noise

  Here is a link to part of my database:
Village of Justice, IL. traffic noise

55dB of traffic noise for over 12 hours in the Village of Justice, IL.

Well,

it has been 12+ hours of 55dB of traffic noise in the Village of Justice, Illinois.  Seems unbelievable but it is true!  Can only wish other people will start complaining! 


It has been increasingly frustrating that the quiet village we moved into some 12+ years ago has become a place of no quiet.  We put an incredible amount of time, effort and money for making our very large yard an "oasis" that was close to the city.  Hard to believe that working close to downtown and Lake Shore Drive could be quieter than home.........   Shame on you Village of Justice!

Village of Justice IL Sound levels

A new high in traffic noise in the village of justice IL

So, this past Saturday evening (~8pm) Aug 15th I recorded a new high in traffic noise of 54 dB!  Yes- 54dB is really nothing to be happy about.  By Sunday morning we were down to 52 dB and up to 53 dB at sunday night.  Monday morning ~5:10am was down to 52 dB.


Frankly this is disgusting! We are almost a mile away from the closest highway, hard to believe nobody else has noticed such increases in traffic noises over the past few years. Also, we had our first tremor again in months Friday late afternoon ~4:20pm.



At least I've been keeping track of it....
Sound Levels in the Village of Justice

An amazing afternoon and night of sound levels

So, when I got home from work on the 6th of August- I noticed something special. No traffic noise- AT ALL!   It was amazing and reminded us about the reason we chose to live in the village of Justice.  Now if it could just continue but highly unlikely :(

Village of Justice has similar traffic noise to downtown Chicago

So yesterday evening we went downtown and while sitting at the closest benches to Lake Shore Drive at Buckingham Fountain I pulled out my phone to check the noise level.  The smartphones of today is a powerful tool and as it turns out very accurate in giving sound level measurements.  The phone showed and average reading of 52dB which I checked over several minutes.  52dB reading some ~135ft away from an 8 lane expressway that was quite busy.  Come on Village of Justice Illinois- we should be able to do much better being almost a mile away from the expressways! I do find it odd that the political groups (in the village) that I sent information about this project including some background about myself and an expressed desire about becoming active in the political sphere have not returned any of my emails.  Who knows, maybe they changed the political group name(s) again.  I guess it just gives me the opportunity to express my feelings and data points to the world instead.

Village of Justice traffic Sound levels

Another morning of Crazy loud traffic noise in the Village of Justice IL.

As the title says: Another morning of Crazy loud traffic noise in the Village of Justice IL.  Looks like it maybe time for me to get more political.  54dB this morning and the way it is going, I wouldn't be surprised if we hit 60dB one day.  I tried in the past to get involved in the Village but was given the impression you really need to know someone.  I've contacted at least two parties in the past few election cycles-  both were not interested.  I guess they can do without a person with a strong science background.  My wife doesn't want to move because of all the time we invested in the yard- plus we would still not sell our house for a good price.

Link to sound levels in the Village of Justice IL

More Outrageous Noise in the Village of Justice IL

At about 10pm last night while working on our garage I noticed an increase in the traffic noise.  By 10:30pm it was crazy loud at 55dB, my hope is people actually complain-  Time for the Village of Justice IL to put up or shutup.  What was actually strange was that I could detect the sound moving slowly from east to west over a period of about an hour, by 5:20am the sound was down to 54dB.

Sound Levels in the Village of Justice

Here is another Oddity in the Village of Justice Traffic Noise issue

So the typically traffic noise is around 44.5dB in the morning.  On this past Saturday, lighter traffic day it was 50dB.  Crazy because I cannot attribute it to wet pavement, traffic congestion or anything.  It stayed around 50dB for most of the day and was down to 40dB by evening.  Whereas a typical day, around 5pm the traffic noise is around 40dB.  I can't imagine people in the village of Justice are happy about this noise; especially since this noise was barely noticeable a few years ago. I know for sure I would of never bought my house here if the noise was at this level.


Sound Levels in the Village of Justice

Pure Strangeness on the Traffic noise in the Village of Justice IL.

So I got home yesterday and I noticed pure quiet.  My meter read 35dB which was mostly from songbirds.  It was Amazing and just like we remembered back when we were thinking of putting an offer on the house in 2003.  It was the tail-end of winter and we spent a good couple of hours sitting in the huge backyard on a weekday throughout rush hour trying to figure if this is where we wanted to move, the idea of no traffic noise unlike living in the city was very appealing.   Yesterday, we spent a few hours sitting in the yard thinking how peaceful it was and really we don't wanna move out of the Village of Justice.


Link to the sound measurements:
http://goo.gl/7SFjta

Outrageous Noise in the Village of Justice IL

Sorry this is not a April Fools Day Joke-


Yesterday evening I noticed an increase in the traffic noise coming from I-294 from the quiet/peaceful 38dB when I got home.   By 10pm I measured the sound to be 53dB!  Especially since our house is almost a mile away (0.84). Yes, that it LOUD-  this morning around 5:45 AM I measured it to be 54dB (No train, plane or local traffic could be heard) it was a struggle to hear the birds.

Measures Sound Values in the Village of Justice Illinois

A month into the recording of Sound Levels in the Village of Justice IL.

Strange,


One month in and so far I cannot find a rhyme or reason for the variations in dB from day to day.   What confuses me more is that at midnight it could be 50dB!  It doesn't seem to be precipitation, temp and/or wind direction for variations between 38 to 50dB.  This has peaked my interest in continuing to see how the sound levels get throughout the year.  Who knows- maybe it is just time to move from the Village of Justice IL.  It would be a pure shame as the amount of time and money we invested in out property, a gardeners' dream.  The one thing for sure is the sound has increased over the past few years and if it reaches much higher in the 50 decibel range it can cause permanent damage to one's ears with constant sound.  We really enjoy living in the village- my hope is someone sees this and pushes harder to get not only some answers but for a solution.  I did contact the mayor and building dept, maybe I should start contacting trustees or even print up flyers.

I'm thinking of organizing the data a little better so I could release all of it.  This way anyone could crunch the numbers, so far I've been editing two sheets every morning.  Editing one sheet would be easier- just hope because of so many variables that it wouldn't be overwhelming.



Here is the link:
Sound levels in the Village of Justice IL

Village of Justice Illinois Sound Levels are loud

Village of Justice Illinois Sound Levels-

So,  we noticed about 2 years ago that the traffic noise had increased dramatically.  Considering an increase of 10 decibels gives the impression of the sound level doubling by most people- yes, studies have been done and I will try to find those and cite them.  I contacted public works and the current mayor.  The response from public works was that an incredible number of ash trees had been removed leading to the increase.  The mayor, on the other hand said he has been living in the village for 15+ years and had no sense of an increase in sound.  In fact it turns out he live only a few block away from me.  His response in no way was rude- he just pointed out he did not sense any increase in noise.


So- I started an experiment. I've been using a Bruel & Kjaer 2209 sound meter to check the sound levels in the morning.  Being about one mile from I-55 and I-294 (as a crow flies in both cases) I started measuring sound levels as I leave for work near 73rd and Oak Grove Ave. The link below is the doc I've been compiling.  In most cases the sound from I-294 direction is greater.


To give you some background, at 38 dB the road noise is very quiet and takes some effort to pick out.  At 42 dB the road noise is very tolerable, at 45 dB it starts to drowned out everything else, at 50 dB it sounds louder than the birds singing and can be heard through double pane windows if the house is quiet (e.g. sleeping at night).  No recordings are done while local traffic can be seen or heard and no trains.

Road wetness does make the traffic noise louder.

Village of Justice Sound levels in the morning