The Jones Payne Group is providing peace and quiet to residents in Seattle's Rainier Valley.

Sound Transit, is providing Seattle residents an easier and more efficient access to downtown by building a 14 mile light rail system. Along with the benefits of the light rail system, residents of Seattles ethnically diverse Rainier Valley will also experience an increase in vehicular noise as the result of light rail relocating traffic closer to the homes.

To alleviate the nuisance for residents along the alignment, Sound Transit has turned to The Jones Payne Group to provide architectural, design and management services through the execution of their Residential Sound Insulation Program (RSIP).

Utilizing their innovative design process, The Jones Payne Group is working with 137 residences to provide a package of home improvements that not only reduces the intrusion of outside noise, but also improves the indoor air quality with the induction of fresh air, making the homes more comfortable and peaceful.

Program Manager, Jim Cornwell says “I find it very rewarding when a homeowner expresses their appreciation for the improvements to their living environment brought on by the sound insulation treatments.” Mr. Cornwell brings 20 years sound insulation experience to the project through his execution of SeaTac Airport’s Sound Insulation Program.

Rail

The Jones Payne Group is a multi-disciplinary firm of program managers, planners, urban designers, community specialists, architects, construction managers and information technology specialists with expertise in government planning, design and information technology projects.

Our Noise Mitigation practice has an 18 year history in environmental noise, including land use/ noise mitigation strategies, sound attenuation feasibility studies, pilot residential sound insulation projects and program formulation/ implementation of noise mitigation programs. The firm provides program planning, management, design and construction services for the sound insulation of schools, churches, civic buildings, residential and historic properties affected by airport, highway, transit and rail noise.

Our rail project experience spans the United States with projects in Portland, OR; San Jose, CA; Boston, MA; and Cleveland, OH. A summary of our experience on these projects is below. For detailed information on each project, visit the Rail Projects page of our Noise Mitigation group.

Oregon Light Rail Transit System

In Portland, The Jones Payne Group participated in the implementation of the second phase of a residential sound insulation program for the Westside-Hillsboro Extension of the Oregon Light Rail Transit System. The planned eleven mile extension tunnels under the West Hills and parallels railroad right-of-ways and highway corridors. The twelve station line leads to the western suburbs which are projected to have a half a million more residents by 2010.

Jones Payne employed “Soundesign” technology in carrying out the acoustical/ architectural design tasks for the project. “Soundesign” monitored numerous program elements from documentation through construction. This “fast-track” design process created Home Profiles for each residence that incorporated digital photos of each house, floor plan and schedules, notes from visits to the residence, ventilation, structural, historical and code enforcement issues, correspondence and technical memorandums.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

The Jones Payne Group was retained to provide a complete range of services, including program management, homeowner outreach, acoustical testing, design, construction management and project closeout services for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Blue Line Transit Modernization Program. As part of the program, the MTBA funded the sound insulation of 130 single family, duplex and multi- family residential properties located directly adjacent to the transit right of way.

Valley Transit Authority

The Valley Transit Authority (VTA) successfully introduced light rail transit into the San Jose and Santa Clara valley, and plans for future expansion of their system. The Environmental Impact Report for the proposed the Tasman East / Capitol line segment identified approximately 51 single family homes and 88 multi-family dwellings that would be subjected to significant noise impacts. The measures to any adverse impacts called for providing noise insulation and/ or sound walls at residential structures along Capitol Avenue.

Under a subcontract to RBF Consulting, our Noise Mitigation practice group provided specialized expertise for the sound insulation component of the Valley Transit Authority’s (VTA) noise mitigation program. Jones Payne designing noise reduction measures to address specific noise levels at each participating residence.

CSX Norfolk Southern Corporation

The City of Cleveland and the CSX Norfolk Southern Corporation agreed to mitigate railway noise for homes located within 70 dBA of the main freight rail lines through the city. Cleveland’s Department of Economic Development was directly responsible for overseeing the design and construction phases of the program. Three City of Cleveland’ Community Development Corporations (CDCs) were designated to contract directly with general contractors to implement the treatments.

The Jones Payne Group, in association with Acentech, Inc. was retained to develop a Program Manual and Construction Budget for the sound insulation of over 350 residential structures, including windshield Surveys, treatment implementation processes, acoustical treatment protocols, and technical specifications and installation details.