Revere City Council seeks results from MassHighway on Route 16 sound barriers

REVERE – Revere city councilors are upset and disappointed in MassHighway’s response to their request for sound barriers along Route 16 leading to Copeland Circle. MassHighway indicated that their request would be sent to another committee within the department for further review.”I have been asking for sound barriers for many years,” Councilor at Large Robert J. Haas said at Monday night’s city council meeting. MassHighway told the council that further studies have to take place to see if sound barriers are needed.”That study should have been done 15 years ago,” insisted Haas.Many of the councilors feel that other communities like Andover and Lexington which are also near highways (routes 128, 95 and 93), get far better treatment than Revere.”For some ungodly reason we can’t get the same kind of service that other towns get,” Councilor at Large George Rotondo said.Ward 6 Councilor Charles J. Patch agreed. “It is very disappointing,” Patch said. “All these rich communities don’t seem to have a problem getting them and they live much further from the highway than Revere residents do.”In a separate motion, Patch requested that the Mayor request MassHighway to install signage indicating “Jake Brakes Prohibited” for the trucks utilizing the off ramp of Route 60 on Route 1 North after the Sargent Street exit due to noise complaints from residents.”It looks like it’s going to be a while until we get sound barriers,” Patch said. “Maybe this will help the problem a little bit.”Haas suggested that the council notify state legislators to see if they can be of any assistance.In other business, Patch requested that the Water & Sewer department notify residents of a water-and-sewer rate increase by including notification in the water bill one quarter prior to the actual increase.The last water bill Revere residents received showed a dramatic increase. “I got a lot of phone calls about it,” Patch said. “It is just common sense to prepare people before an increase.”Ward 3 Councilor Arthur Guinasso sympathizes with Revere residents. “Somebody has to pay the bills,” he said. “We are stuck between a rock and a hard place.”Guinasso stated the increase Revere residents are facing are significant. “This isn’t like back in the old days where it would go from $80 dollars to $120,” Guinasso said. “It goes up in increments of hundreds of dollars.””We have to do something to help these people and this is the step in the right direction,” Guinasso said. “Maybe, we should cut the high salaries we are paying these people.Sara Brown can be reached at [email protected].