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RALEIGH — Some urban legislators think it's time to loosen the state's policy for building highway sound barriers, a controversial issue linked partly to the newest section of the Greensboro Urban Loop.

Should the state's policy be loosened? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

A bill proposed this week by several state representatives, including Pricey Harrison of Greensboro, would require the state Department of Transportation to consider allowing the "construction of sound barriers along existing highways that generate a significant noise impact."

Harrison, a Democrat, said the proposed study was a response to the state's construction of urban loops through residential areas across the state, not just in Greensboro.

"As these urban loops go into our neighborhoods, we need to rethink how we treat our citizens," said Harrison, who has worked with Greensboro residents affected by loop noise.

Sound barriers are large, tall masonry-like walls designed to muffle and deflect road noise. They are not a cure-all but can work well in some situations.

N.C. DOT policy limits their use to neighborhoods existing when a new highway's route is formally announced, which can be a decade or more before it's built.

The bill's lead sponsor is state Rep. Ty Harrell, a Wake County Democrat whose constituents are facing noise issues tied to such projects as Raleigh's Interstate 540 Loop.

DOT should not be allowed to leave behind a legacy of noise and disrupted sleep, Harrell said.

"DOT should have the responsibility of going out and testing these noise levels during morning rush hour, evening rush hour and the weekend when recreational motorcyclists are riding by," Harrell said.

"Residents shouldn't have to scream to be heard on their porches or in their backyards on a Sunday afternoon."

His bill has bipartisan support, including two Guilford County Republicans, state Reps. John Blust and Laura Wiley.

In addition to Harrison, other primary sponsors include state Reps. Marilyn Avila of Raleigh and Ruth Samuelson of Charlotte.

Wiley said she expects issues with Greensboro's loop to be a major focus of any DOT study, including the effectiveness of current noise-muffling techniques.

"Those noise walls were never meant to mitigate noise above the first story. Well, think about it, where are the bedrooms on most of these houses?" Wiley said of suburban homes with bedrooms on upper floors.

Meanwhile, state and Greensboro officials said Wednesday they hope to accelerate landscaping along the western loop so neighbors at least have an attractive, visual screen between themselves and the interstate bypass.

The plan calls for DOT to do as much landscaping as its policies allow and for the city to supplement that in neighborhoods the state can't help because they were built too recently, the city Metropolitan Planning Organization said.

"We need to have a significant amount of plantings in the ground this fall," said City Councilman Robbie Perkins, chairman of the local transportation planning group. "We can't wait another year."

Greensboro's new stretch of loop extends 7.5 miles from Interstate 40 in the airport area to its merger with I-85 southwest of town. Residents in that area began complaining about noise soon after it opened Feb. 21.

Sound barriers were at the center of a contentious, standing-room-only meeting last week about noise from the Greensboro loop.

That meeting was held to unveil results of a project review, which DOT began after fielding numerous noise complaints.

DOT administrators announced that the review found that state noise analysts had used proper techniques to study the road's potential noise problems in 2000 and, guided by DOT's current policy, put sound barriers in the right places.

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-recod.com

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com