Ramblewood Parkway resident Lita Bellocchio wants trees.
More so, she wants to be able to enjoy her morning coffee without the noise of rush hour on the Turnpike echoing through her house.
Bellocchio attended a township council work session meeting earlier this year and multiple Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) board meetings in the hope of having trees planted in the area between the area’s homes and the Turnpike.
She gathered a petition to rally her neighbors to the cause. It has 87 signatures.
The noise noticeably worsened this past March, she said.
“In the beginning, no one would take responsibility for the tree removal. Since then … with the help from Mr. Troy Singleton, District 7 assemblyman, the Turnpike has agreed to plant trees on the northbound and southbound side and will be back in September to continue planting the trees,” said Bellocchio in an email. “The Turnpike wanted to plant trees from the end of the MUA fence line to the Wawa on Church (Street.) We have requested that they plant from the beginning of the MUA as we hear the noise from the beginning of Exit 4 all the way to where the Turnpike and 295 meet.”
She addressed the MUA board at its July meeting.
“I’m not here to argue,” she said, pointing out that she’s trying to help the community with what she feels is a health and environmental hazard.
“Sound travels,” she added. “I’m representing all the residents.”
The community has been doing its part to fix the issue.
“To date, we have received four beautiful Green Giant Arbrivitaes from The Ramblewood Garden Center located at 800 South Church St. at the end of Ramblewood Parkway,” she said. “We appreciate their donation and want to thank Steve for contributing such beautiful trees and hope the residents will support him for supporting us.”
“We are hoping to get other donations such as this,” she added.
The overall hope, she said, is for the area to become desirable once more.
Mt. Laurel Township sent a letter to the Turnpike authority in May. There are no additional updates on the township end, according to manager Maureen Mitchell in an email July 20.
Ramblewood residents spoke after Bellocchio at the MUA’s July meeting, with Renate Bilder pointing out that the board members appeared to be falling asleep during Bellocchio’s time of public comment.
“You don’t care,” Bilder said. “You don’t live there.”
Resident Elsie Fountain said that it is hard for her to sleep with the windows open due to the excessive noise.
Board member Elwood Knight said he believed that the residents were putting too much faith in trees to stifle the noise.
He suggested they shut their windows and turn on the air conditioner.
Irwin Edelson, MUA chairman, read from an article from the Federal Highway Administration that stated that vegetation with thick undergrowth could reduce noise by 5 decibels, but is not feasible to plant along highways as a noise deterrent. However, they can be planted for psychological reasons.
“They’re saying it’s a placebo,” he explained.
Bellocchio, however, said that she could find an article saying that trees help with noise for every article that says they do not.
She is requesting evergreens rather than leafy trees, as to not interfere with the solar panels in the area.
Pam Carolan, executive director of the MUA, said that 140 trees were planted after 94 were removed. The Department of Environmental Protection approved the tree changes, she said.
The unwanted noise continues, Bellocchio said, with her ears having hurt in the past from the sounds.
“We get the dirt, the noise and the fumes, all of the time,” she said. “That is the problem we’ve had with the Turnpike.”
The MUA plans to give its answer to her request at the Thursday, Aug. 16 meeting held at the Elbo Lane Groundwater Treatment Plant, 41 Elbo Lane, Mt. Laurel, at 6 p.m.
