Los Angeles to Anaheim Project Section Noise and Vibration Technical Report
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California High-Speed Rail Authority Burbank to Los Angeles Project Section Noise and Vibration Technical Report May 2020 The environmental review, consultation, and other actions required by applicable Federal environmental laws for this project are being or have been carried out by the State of California pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 327 and a Memorandum of Understanding dated July 23, 2019, and executed by the Federal Railroad Administration and the State of California. This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... ES-1 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.1 California High-Speed Rail System Background ..................................................... 1-1 1.2 Burbank to Los Angeles Background ....................................................................... 1-1 1.3 Project Description Purpose ..................................................................................... 1-4 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .................................................................................................. 2-1 2.1 No Project Alternative .............................................................................................. 2-1 2.2 High-Speed Rail Build Alternative ............................................................................ 2-1 2.2.1 HSR Build Alternative Description ............................................................. 2-5 2.2.2 Roadway Crossings ................................................................................. 2-14 2.3 Station Sites ........................................................................................................... 2-16 2.3.1 Burbank Airport Station ............................................................................ 2-16 2.3.2 Los Angeles Union Station ...................................................................... 2-18 2.4 Maintenance of Infrastructure ................................................................................ 2-19 2.4.1 Maintenance of Infrastructure Facilities ................................................... 2-20 2.4.2 Maintenance of Infrastructure Sidings ..................................................... 2-20 2.4.3 Heavy Maintenance Facility ..................................................................... 2-20 2.4.4 Light Maintenance Facility ....................................................................... 2-20 2.5 Ancillary and Support Facilities .............................................................................. 2-21 2.5.1 Electrification ............................................................................................ 2-21 2.5.2 Signaling and Train-Control Elements ..................................................... 2-21 2.6 Early Action Projects .............................................................................................. 2-22 2.6.1 Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station ...................................................... 2-22 2.6.2 Sonora Avenue Grade Separation ........................................................... 2-22 2.6.3 Grandview Avenue Grade Separation ..................................................... 2-24 2.6.4 Flower Street Grade Separation .............................................................. 2-24 2.6.5 Goodwin Avenue/Chevy Chase Drive Grade Separation ........................ 2-25 2.6.6 Main Street Grade Separation ................................................................. 2-26 2.7 Project Construction ............................................................................................... 2-27 2.8 Independent Utility of the Burbank to Los Angeles Project Section ....................... 2-28 2.9 Operations of the Burbank to Los Angeles Project Section ................................... 2-28 3 LAWS, REGULATIONS, ORDERS ..................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Noise ........................................................................................................................ 3-1 3.1.1 Federal ....................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1.2 State ........................................................................................................... 3-6 3.1.3 Regional and Local .................................................................................... 3-9 3.2 Vibration ................................................................................................................. 3-17 3.2.1 Federal ..................................................................................................... 3-17 3.2.2 State and Local ........................................................................................ 3-21 4 METHODS FOR EVALUATING EFFECTS ......................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Definition of Resource Study Area ........................................................................... 4-2 4.2 Categories of High-Speed Trains ............................................................................. 4-3 4.3 Noise Prediction Components .................................................................................. 4-3 4.3.1 Sources of High-Speed Rail Noise ............................................................ 4-4 4.3.2 Operating Conditions ................................................................................. 4-5 4.3.3 Propagation of Noise to Receivers ............................................................ 4-7 4.3.4 Benchmark Test to Validate Noise Prediction Modeling ............................ 4-8 4.3.5 Cumulative Noise Exposure .................................................................... 4-11 4.4 Annoyance and Startle Effects Due to Rapid Onset Rates ................................... 4-11 California High-Speed Rail Project Environmental Document May 2020 Burbank to Los Angeles Project Section Noise and Vibration Technical Report Page | i Table of Contents 4.5 Noise Impacts on Wildlife Noise-Sensitive Receivers ............................................ 4-12 4.6 Maintenance Facilities ............................................................................................ 4-13 4.7 Stations .................................................................................................................. 4-13 4.8 Detailed Vibration Assessment .............................................................................. 4-13 4.8.1 Surveying the Existing Vibration Conditions ............................................ 4-13 4.8.2 Predicting Future Vibration and Vibration Impacts .................................. 4-14 4.9 Construction Noise and Vibration Methodology ..................................................... 4-15 4.9.1 Construction Noise Criteria ...................................................................... 4-18 4.9.2 Construction Vibration Criteria ................................................................. 4-18 4.10 Evaluating Impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act ......................... 4-19 4.11 Determining Significance under the California Environmental Quality Act ............ 4-19 5 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT .............................................................................................. 5-1 5.1 Key Terms ................................................................................................................ 5-1 5.1.1 Noise and Vibration Descriptors ................................................................ 5-1 5.1.2 Noise Descriptors ....................................................................................... 5-1 5.1.3 Vibratory Motion ......................................................................................... 5-3 5.1.4 Amplitude Descriptors ................................................................................ 5-3 5.1.5 Ground-Borne Noise .................................................................................. 5-5 5.2 Existing Noise Environment ..................................................................................... 5-6 5.2.1 Noise-Sensitive Receivers ......................................................................... 5-6 5.3 Existing Noise Conditions ...................................................................................... 5-11 5.4 Existing Vibration Environment .............................................................................. 5-12 5.4.1 Vibration-Sensitive Receivers .................................................................. 5-12 5.4.2 Measured Vibration Levels ...................................................................... 5-15 6 EFFECTS ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 6-1 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 6-1 6.2 No Project Alternative............................................................................................... 6-1 6.3 Rail Corridor Construction Effects ............................................................................ 6-1 6.3.1