ASHBURN — The Chicago Department of Aviation is expanding its noise monitoring program to Hayes Park, which will be home to a device that monitors sound from jets using Midway Airport.
A portable noise monitor will soon be installed at the park at 2936 W. 85th St. It will be used to asses noise levels from airliners passing overheard, and it appears to be the southernmost noise monitor in the city.
Aaron Frame, deputy commission for noise and abatement for the Department of Aviation, said the monitor will be left at the park for an undetermined amount of time, but that initial findings will be made in available in October.
The results are scheduled to be discussed at the Midway Noise Compatibility Commission meeting at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Mayfield, 6072 S. Archer Ave.
Commissioners at the meeting last week did not say why a monitor was going up at the park. Homeowners can request a portable monitor, but officials did not say if it was requested by area homeowners.
The Southeast side of the airport, where Ashburn is located, gets the least amount of jet noise of all surrounding areas, according to the map below.
The red dots are the locations of permanent noise monitors, while the blue outline shows where jet noise is loudest. [Chicago Dept. of Aviation]
Nor does the neighborhood generate very many airplane noise complaints, logging only one out of the 43,000 complaints filed with the city in the second quarter of 2017.
Ashburn logged a miniscule fraction of the 43,000 noise complaints filed in Quarter 2 of this year. [Chicago Dept. of Aviation]
Initial data from the monitor will be discussed at the Midway Noise Comparability Commission meeting at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Mayfield, 6072 S. Archer Ave. The list of existing noise monitors, and their findings, can be found here.
