Judge Orders CDOT To Address C-470 Noise Complaints
By Joel Hillan
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A small victory for homeowners battling noise from an expanding C-470. A judgement handed down a decision on Thursday afternoon in favor of those who sued because they feel they need a noise wall, but the Colorado Department of Transportation disagreed.
CDOT argued that they completed a noise study and found some sections of wall would be ineffective in mitigating noise from the expanding C-470.
A neighborhood coalition claimed CDOT violated their own guidelines by using short-term noise studies as opposed to both short and long-term studies to make their determination and the judge agreed.
In the 22-page decision Judge Raymond Moore stated, "…it is ORDERED that this matter is remanded to the Defendants for further consideration…"
The decision doesn't give a deadline for CDOT to complete this "consideration."
"Obviously this is a larger study that we have been looking at about how we address noise in this particular corridor. The important part to understand is that we continue to move forward on this project as we are building, we look to have that construction completed in late 2019," said CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford.
Without a deadline and no injunction to stop construction, it is entirely possible CDOT could consider this indefinitely without ever having to take any action.
The neighborhood coalition is already looking at legal options to require an expedient deadline to the judge's request.
Joel Hillan anchors CBS4 This Morning on weekends as well as reports stories for CBS4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. Follow Joel on Twitter @joelhillan.