08.29.12

Durbin Announces $4.5 Million in DOT Funding for O'Hare Noise Mitigation

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $4.5 million in funding to the Board of Education of the City of Chicago District 299 for noise mitigation measures at Farnsworth Elementary School near Chicago O'Hare International Airport. This grant will fund construction on sound proofing efforts including acoustic window unit, ceiling, vestibule and doorway installment, mechanical and electrical system revision, and existing soundproofing related asbestos abatement.

 

“Next week, children across Chicago will head back to their classrooms for the new school year. Today’s funding will help create a better learning environment for children at Farnsworth Elementary School, which is just a few miles away from O’Hare Airport” Durbin said. “It will ensure that modernizations at O’Hare Airport – which is a critical transportation link for Illinois and the entire Midwest – don’t adversely affect our children or our schools.”

 

Farnsworth Elementary School was tested for noise impact in 2007, and was determined to meet both Federal Aviation Administration and City of Chicago aircraft noise metrics in order to be eligible for sound insulation. In 2009, Durbin announced a $350,000 DOT grant to fund sound insulation design work at Farnsworth Elementary School, which was recently completed.