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Taipei urged to reduce parking lots' noise

The Taipei City Government was urged to reduce noise levels from the 24-hour parking lots under the Jianguo Overpass as residents complained yesterday that they were being driven to distraction by the noise.

Cars going in and out of the six parking lots under the overpass produce noise levels as high as 70 decibels, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said yesterday, standing in one of the lots near Xinyi Road.

"The passageway to the second floor is made of steel plates, which make a terrible noise every time a car drives over them," the city councilor said.

"It's torture for area residents, especially as the parking lots are open 24 hours," Lin said.

A 67-year-old resident surnamed Tsao joined Lin to urge the city government to reduce the noise. Tsao said he had to take sleeping pills to get any sleep.

An on-site inspection by the city's Environmental Protection Department showed that the noise level was between 70 and 71 decibels, which exceeds the night-time noise limit.

Lin said residents have also complained about car alarms going off in the parking lots.

Liu Chian-pang (劉建邦), a division chief at the Taipei City Parking Management Office, said the passageway plates were replaced with thinner steel plates in 2003 to reduce noise levels, but the move had minimal impact.

Liu promised to find other methods to reduce the noise by the end of the year, including adding rubber to the steel plates.
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