The village of Oak Park has created a mock wall along I-290 in order to show residents what the large barriers would look like should they vote to officially install them.
Residents who live along the expressway are due to vote on the walls intended to block noise. They are part of the Illinois Department of Transportation's plan to expand 290.
“Motorcycle guys come through and they're very loud. I hear them a lot at night,” Oak Park resident Gerald Houston said.
"Sometimes we can hear from inside the house with the big accidents, the ambulances and everything,” Oak Park resident Victoria Borgerson added.
Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb sympathizes with them, but says he thinks a wall 17 feet high -- even if it does cancel some of the expressway noise -- will further divide the community and also block the views of residents and business that line the Ike.
“We feel that having such a divider is not the right solution for Oak Park,” Abu-Taleb said.
Ballots have already gone out to the residents whose homes are within an ear shot of 290, and so Abu-Taleb is hoping by putting up mock sound walls on either side, it'll give people a clearer idea of just how tall they would be.
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“Because I want people to know what they are voting for! They're voting for a 17 foot divider! That will be here forever once it's built,” Abu-Taleb said.
IDOT would need public buy-in to secure the federal money needed to build the walls as part of a larger I-290 expansion planned for this stretch. Renderings show 'before' and 'after' shots of how the walls would change the aesthetics of the neighborhoods.
Some residents think the noise is tolerable.
“I think we've got enough walls in the world,” said Bernard Wheel, who has been living near the interstate for 42 years. “Enough borders, divisions. It'll divide Oak Park. I don't think it'll do any good.“
