Construction crews are building two sound walls along Interstate 75 in Troy, a long-sought fix for nearby residents and businesses who have complained for years about excessive highway noise. One wall, stretching 2,666 feet, is going up between Wattles and Long Lake roads, while a second, longer wall measuring 4,273 feet is being built from Crooks to Coolidge.
Construction began in April 2026 and is expected to take roughly two years, with completion targeted for fall 2027, according to Rob Morosi, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, as reported by The Detroit News. The project traces back to a $10 million earmark secured in the 2024 state budget, sought by state Rep. Sharon MacDonell and Sen. Michael Webber. Some residents and businesses had also reported higher noise levels after roadway changes tied to the broader I-75 Modernization Project, the paper notes.
Why These Two Stretches Qualified
The project stems from an MDOT-facilitated sound study that evaluated 14 noise barriers along the corridor. Of those, only Noise Barrier 10 and Noise Barrier 11 met the agency's feasibility and reasonableness criteria, according to a proclamation from the City of Troy described in the same account. MDOT has acknowledged it simply doesn't have the funding to build sound walls at every location where residents have asked for one.
The overall price tag for the study and project beyond the $10 million earmark is murky. Bridge Michigan put the overall state investment at $14.3 million, while Oakland County Times reported a $14.5 million figure tied to the project and estimated it would directly and indirectly support 123 jobs. Neither outlet explained the discrepancy between the two totals.
A Statewide Funding Squeeze
MDOT manages just a $1 million-per-year budget for noise wall repair and rehabilitation statewide, and the same Detroit News report quotes Morosi saying that amount is far short of what is needed to maintain the older walls already in the department's inventory. That funding gap helps explain why not every noisy stretch of freeway in Oakland County gets relief even when residents organize and push for it.
A separate 2023 state-funded noise study found two additional sections of I-75 that qualified for a noise wall under current traffic conditions, with the state responsible for footing that bill because the study wasn't federally funded, per Bridge Michigan. Meanwhile, C&G Newspapers reported that four other noisy segments were deemed feasible for sound mitigation by MDOT but didn't meet the agency's population-density standard.
Other Troy Neighborhoods Still Waiting
Not every Troy neighborhood pushing for a wall has had the same luck. Residents of the Beach Forest Subdivision have sought a noise wall along I-75 for years but have been told repeatedly they don't qualify, according to WXYZ. MDOT has said 15 homes would benefit from a wall there, but an additional 25 homes would be needed to meet the agency's threshold.
The noise problem isn't confined to Oakland County. Bridge Michigan reported that along a stretch of Ann Arbor's M-14 near Wines Elementary School, traffic noise on the playground can exceed 90 decibels, underscoring how uneven and difficult the state's noise-wall eligibility standards can be for communities living along busy freeways.
Relief Years in the Making
MacDonell, who posted about the construction on Facebook, said securing the funding was a career highlight. “Securing $10 million in state funding for this project in 2023 is one of my proudest accomplishments during my time as your state representative, and I'll keep working hard to bring more resources to our community for projects like this one,” she said. She also said Troy residents affected by the noise are finally getting relief after years of pushing for it.
