Sound Barrier Victory for Billerica =
A Victory for All of Us Seeking Relief from Highway Noise

April 27, 2007

A few days ago, George Laite, Senator Bob Havern's District Director, notified members of the Burlington/Woburn Sound Barrier Steering Committees that work on the Billerica sound barriers was to begin in the next several days. We agreed to wait to post this information until work actually began.

This morning, George called Terri Keene and Chris Bortlik as representatives of the Burlington and Woburn Sound Barrier Committees to let us know that Modern Continental (the construction company that oversaw the Route 3 construction) has secured a sub contractor and has started work on the sound barriers in the vicinity of the Elliot Street bridge in Billerica.

Yesterday, the sub contractor for Modern Continental cut and cleared trees and underbrush in the area of the planned sound barriers in Billerica. Today, Friday, April 27, 2007, the contractor returned in heavy rain to remove the trees and debris. George also informed us that, according to Modern Continental, the construction company will return next week with earth-moving equipment to continue preparing the area for the sound barriers.

The Mass Highway Department approved sound barriers for Billerica several years ago after the neighbors in Billerica organized many meetings, rallies, petitions, etc. in support of their goal. Similar to what we have done in Burlington and Woburn, the Billerica Sound Barrier Committee partnered with their local board of selectmen, public officials, their State Representative, Bill Greene, and Senator Bob Havern (along with his District Director George Laite) in order to bring pressure to bear upon State Government to bring sound barriers to their neighborhoods.

This is the same formula for success that we are using in Burlington and Woburn. We understand that Lexington sound barriers are also coming soon, although we don’t have details at this time. Mass Highway agreed to construct sound barriers in Lexington in August 2006 after the Lexington Sound Barrier Committee followed a similar formula under the leadership of Senator Havern, Representative Jay Kaufman and George Laite.

This is great news for us all and it demonstrates that citizens who work together with their local and state government can achieve their goals. We in Burlington and Woburn are fortunate to have Senator Havern and Representatives Jay Kaufman, Charley Murphy and Pat Natale, along with our local elected officials in Burlington and Woburn, on our team. The construction of sound barriers in Billerica is a victory for all of us and proof that the strategy that we're following is the formula for success.

We will discuss this further during our next Burlington/Woburn Sound Barrier Committee meeting on May 10. More details on that meeting will be communicated shortly via our websites and email.

Chris Bortlik
Woburn Sound Barrier Committee
WoburnSoundBarriers@verizon.net
781-315-3889
http://www.WoburnSoundBarriers.com
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Terri Keene
Burlington Sound Barrier Committee
BurlSoundBarriers@yahoo.com
781-248-1623
http://www.BurlingtonSoundBarriers.com