A chain-link fence is all that separates I-20 and the historic Mozley Park neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
When you visit Atlanta’s Mozley Park neighborhood and head down Racine Street, you’ll notice historic homes, a daycare and a small community garden as you reach its corner with Gordon Terrace.
But you’ll also find something else: a chain-link fence separating a portion of the neighborhood from eight lanes of roaring interstate traffic.
For nearly three years, a coalition of residents has campaigned for the Georgia Department of Transportation to install noise barriers along their stretch of I-20. So far, residents have drawn attention from local media and politicians with little change, partly due to federal policy.
Mia Pennington and Keith Palmer, residents of Atlanta’s Mozley Park neighborhood, have been organizing their neighbors and advocating for the construction of a sound barrier to protect their neighborhood from the noise of I-20. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
In this special edition of “Closer Look,” host Rose Scott speaks with Five Mile Project co-founders Keith Palmer and Mia Pennington about their campaign for noise barriers on Atlanta’s westside.
“We refuse to take no for an answer. We want to try to rectify this for future generations.”
Mia Pennington, co-founder of the Five Mile Project
A spokesperson for GDOT declined an interview request for “Closer Look,” but shared additional information on noise barrier eligibility.
According to a letter sent to Georgia state Rep. Mesha Mainor by GDOT chief engineer Meg Pirkle, the Federal Highway Administration requires a Type 1 project – such as highway widening or ramp adjustments – to be proposed before noise studies and barriers can be considered.
An overgrown lot is littered with trash near I-20 in the historic Mozely Park neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
“Since there are currently no qualifying projects, we have no mechanism to evaluate traffic noise and potentially provide additional noise abatement,” Pirkle wrote in the letter.
Federal policy also includes Type 2 projects related to standalone noise abatement, but GDOT is among the state-level agencies that have chosen not to participate in this program.
Left: The corner of Racine Street and Gordon Terrace prior to the installation of a community garden, when residents took turns mowing grass and clearing dumped trash. (Courtesy of Mia Pennington) Right: A community garden in Atlanta’s historic Mozley Park neighborhood sits next to I-20. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
“We’re not going to quit. We know it needs to be done,” Palmer told “Closer Look” in an interview at Mozley Park’s community garden.
“We refuse to take no for an answer,” Pennington added. “We want to try to rectify this for future generations.”
