Alexandria, Virginia, residents annoyed by the amount of airplane noise they hear overhead are being encouraged to sign up for a virtual public meeting the city is hosting next week.
People can ask questions, voice concerns and hear the latest information on what may be done in the near future to reduce airplane noise, specifically in communities south of Reagan National Airport.
“Loud noises in general can cause … health impacts from the perspective of their sleep,” said Melissa Atwood, a senior environmental specialist with Alexandria’s Office of Environmental Quality. “Some people just are more sensitive to loud noises in general, and so it can affect their emotional states. We do want to minimize it as much as we can.”
The meeting will focus on a project the city has been working on that involves gathering community input on where the biggest problem areas are and how residents are affected.
Ultimately, the main goal is to develop recommendations to modify flight patterns and present those recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“The intent of the meeting is to inform residents about the status of the project,” Atwood said. “The meeting is designed to give them the background, so we’ll walk through the different components and what they can expect and how the community engagement … is important to the project.”
Vianair Consulting, a company that works to provide solutions to airport noise, is leading the project. It also includes collaboration with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
“We can give recommendations on how to mitigate the noise in these areas, but the FAA does have to accept them and be willing to implement them,” Atwood said.
Details that residents provide during the meeting will be taken into consideration and may be included in direct conversations with the FAA on potentially modifying flight procedures.
“Their input will be used as part of the analysis to determine what the current impacts are to neighboring residential areas,” Atwood said.
The meeting is set for Thursday, June 27, at 6 p.m. on Zoom.
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