Harriott explained to The Sarasota News
Leader that the diverging diamond inter-
change planned at University Parkway and
I-75 is the project that will create the need
for the wall.
"If there is a sound impact, FDOT and [other
state departments of transportation] are
required nationwide to mitigate [it]," Harriott
told the commissioners. Usually, the result is
a wall, and it is constructed as high as it needs
to be to reduce the noise.
"Are we going to see these walls pop up all
along the interstate [in Sarasota County]?"
Hines asked.
"Most definitely," Harriott replied, "and we
have no say about it."
Lee County is seeing such walls erected in
conjunction with the widening of I-75 through
its jurisdiction, he added.
When Hines asked whether landscaping could
mitigate the noise sufficiently that a wall
would not be needed in the Sarasota County
Because of the expense, the County Commission nixed the idea of a special design on the wall panels.
Image courtesy Sarasota County
Sarasota News Leader July 18, 2014 Page 50
