San Jose residents want sound walls to protect neighborhood

The San Jose City Council is going to correct a decadeslong freeway oversight and approve sound walls along Interstate 280 near a forgotten neighborhood.

Sound wall barriers would be constructed along the I-280 corridor next to the San Jose Gardner neighborhood and elementary school. The work is expected to be approved by councilmembers Tuesday. The Gardner Neighborhood Association has rallied for decades to have a set of sound walls bordering their community. The residents have complained that living near the interstate isn’t safe, with sound pollution, debris from the freeway and fire hazards caused by an increasing population of homeless individuals posing a threat.

Elements of the sound walls project were first cited in 1992 after Caltrans identified the need for barriers between Bird Avenue and Los Gatos Creek. But residents say sound walls should have been built when the interstate first opened in the 1960s.

“Gardner Elementary is the only grammar school I know of that is near a freeway on-ramp with no sound wall,” resident Robert Jones told San José Spotlight. “It’s been that way for 50 years. Noise pollution, bumpers flying off cars into people’s neighborhoods, you know, the whole thing.”

He said the mostly-Latino neighborhood has been neglected by agencies such as Caltrans in favor of nearby Willow Glen and downtown communities.

Jurisdictional changes between Caltrans and VTA, along with questions about financing, pushed the project from a 2006 construction timeline to a projected start date of spring 2025.

Four sound walls are expected to be finished by the end of 2026 at a cost of $12 million and will be built on Caltrans’ right-of-way, with a cost of more than $10,000 per year to maintain. A memo from San Jose transportation officials said the city supports the project, as sound walls reduce noise and improve quality of life for residents.

“VTA, San Jose and Caltrans staff have collaborated extensively over many years to bring this initiative forward, and their commitment has been instrumental in progressing the project. We are in final design and plan to release the bid documents for construction early next year,” a VTA spokesperson told San José Spotlight.

While the city will be charged with maintaining vegetation growth on its side of the wall, Caltrans will be responsible for maintaining the sound walls.

City officials also described the Gardner area as “historically disadvantaged” and said the sound walls will reduce noise and promote a more friendly living environment.

“You can see the damage done to the neighborhood, now imagine all the folks that live one block away,” Jones told San José Spotlight. “We’ve had about 20 fires in the last year or two underneath the freeway.”

Fire hazards posed by the overgrown vegetation and trees between the freeway onramp and the homes surrounding Gardner Elementary would be mitigated by the sturdy sound walls, Jones said.

State Sen. Dave Cortese said the sound walls project was the top issue when he spoke with Gardner Neighborhood Association members during his 2020 election campaign. Former state Sen. Jim Beall pushed for project funding before he termed out, Cortese said, leading him to take the baton to move it forward.

“I’m very happy to hear the project is making its way onto the city council agenda, and hopefully there won’t be any further delays,” Cortese told San José Spotlight. “It’s a win because we’ve tried all kinds of temporary measures that just don’t work.”
Gardner Neighborhood Association President Chuck Cantrell said a fence placed along the area has been continuously cut and provides no protection from noise or fire hazards. He said brush and trees more than 8-feet high threaten nearby homes because of homeless residents who start fires in the area.

“It’s easy (for state and city officials) to marginalize already-marginalized communities and say, ‘We don’t have enough in the budget right now and we can do this later,'” Cantrell told San José Spotlight. “If it’s on the (city council) consent agenda, that means someone wants to make a change there. Hopefully, that means the work that Dave Cortese and others have done to drive the issue forward is actually working.”