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Forsyth neighborhood upset with I-75 noise after trees were cut down

One man says he reached out to 12 different state engineers and managers to resolve the issue

You don't really think about the sound your car makes while driving down the highway.

For one man who lives off I-75, the sound of trucks and cars is all he hears inside and outside his house. It's almost as if he's standing right on the side of the highway.

After miles of trees were cut down on Interstate 75, noise from cars travels easily to neighboring homes.

"Once you get large trucks, ambulances, blow outs, things like that, it sounds like it's happening in your living room," said Alan Stern.

Alan Stern lives in the River Forest subdivision, right off Johnstonville Road.

He says the Georgia Department of Transportation cut down trees behind his neighborhood without any notice.

WMAZ spoke with Penny Brooks, a spokesperson for Georgia Department of Transportation, who says those trees were cut down as a safety measure. They decided the tress were too close to the highway, so if someone veered off the road, they could possibly hit a tree.

"There was no public information put out because I had spoken to the county commissioner's office, and they weren't even informed. So Monroe County commission knew nothing about it, until after it was done," Stern said.

Stern says he reached out to 12 different state engineers and managers.

"And basically the response was all the same at the end of their conversation, it was 'well, we own the highway and it's ours and we can do what we want with it, when we want,'" Stern said.

Brooks says GDOT is looking at possible projects on that strip of I-75. If those projects happen, then they could look at possibly putting up a sound barrier, but that could be several years down the road.

According to state policy, they can't conduct sound studies in an area, unless new construction is taking place.

Stern says that neighbors share the same concerns.

"It's got to be brutal on them, just to come home from work and have all this noise all night, because it doesn't stop," Stern said.

But Stern says he won't stop until he sees the issue resolved.

"Even if they planted something, it would take two lifetimes for the trees to provide any kind of impact, so if I don't do anything, I mean, it's just going to get worse and worse and worse," Stern said.

Stern plans to write letters to state representatives to make his and his neighbors' voices heard.

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