Scientists say exposure to high levels of noise pollution can have serious effects on human health and well-being. But because of an oversight in the 1960s, one neighborhood in San Jose has been enduring a constant roar of traffic from Highway 280.
Now it looks like someone is finally willing to do something about it, but only because residents were willing to raise their voices.
Freeways can be pretty loud places and that’s why state law requires that sound walls be built to protect residential areas. There isn’t much peace and quiet on Williams Street in the Gardner neighborhood of San Jose.
“It’s almost like white noise sometimes. Like it’s just background noise that’s always there, constant. Then I feel like we’re raising our voices to talk to each other sometimes. It’s almost like if we’re outside, we have to shout at each other to hear each other,” said Marc Douat, who lives with nothing more than a chain link fence separating him from Highway 280.