People who live beneath the flight path of San Diego International Airport have to listen from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. to the roar of jetliners and other aircraft more than 500 times a day.
The San Diego Regional Airport Authority is working to reduce the noise to its neighbors with its federally funded Quieter Home Program, which provides free windows, doors, and in some cases, ventilation systems.
Airport officials and community leaders on Thursday gathered in Bankers Hill near downtown to celebrate the 3,000th renovation. The historic home on Third Avenue received $72,000 worth of insulation, including 36 new windows, five doors and two ventilation systems.
“The sound-attenuating windows and the other improvements have done nothing but actually enhanced the historicity of this property, which shows that this can work in the older communities where this program is done,” said San Diego Councilman Todd Gloria, whose district includes part of the project area.
About 12,000 additional homes in Bankers Hill, Golden Hill and Point Loma meet the qualification of 65 decibels of aircraft noise from Lindbergh Field.
“The program typically achieves interior noise reductions of at least 5 decibels,” said Thella Bowens, president and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “We have to work very closely with the FAA to make sure that this program meets their guidelines in all ways.”
The program, which started in 2001, is paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration via an airplane ticket tax, Bowen said.
