Neighbor finds proposed motocross track too close for comfort

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BY ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star

When Scott Dale bought his acreage two years ago near Salt Creek, he was looking for a place where he could restore his cars, fish for carp and enjoy the eagles, herons and other wildlife.

Two weeks ago,  Dale got an invitation to a meeting about a motocross track project at the Abbott Sports Complex, which is just across the creek and due west of his land at 7801 N. 84th St.

Nobody told him about the  proposed motocross track when he bought the place, he said, and when he heard about the project later,  he never thought it would fly because of noise and funding problems.

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(LJS file)

(LJS file)

 Now Dale, who moved to Lincoln from Omaha, faces the prospect of having a motocross track fewer than 300 feet from his house. He doesn’t relish the thought of dirt bikes racing down the backstretch at full throttle seven days a week.

Motocross is a sport in which motorcycle racers navigate a dirt track filled with hills and jumps.

“The noise is going to be like, yikes!” Dale said in an interview Friday, a day after neighbors got a project update from the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District.

 The NRD and Lancaster County are in the final stages of developing the track, which has been in the works since 2004. The northeast Lincoln site was selected after efforts to build in other  parts of the county failed, due mostly to heavy opposition from neighbors.

Only six homes are close to the proposed track a quarter mile south of Interstate 80 and not far from the city’s Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plant. Dale said he is the most vocal critic of the project, mainly because he lives closer to it than anyone else.

“I’m the only one really affected,” he said. “I’m the guy getting the pounding.”

He said his main concerns are the noise and dust raised by dirt bikes racing around the track, which he said could be a health concern for kids playing outdoor soccer at the Abbott Sports Complex.

NRD General Manager Glenn Johnson said they plan to keep the noise down by building an 8-foot-high earthen berm around the track. Also, all dirt bikes will be required to use standard mufflers; no open exhaust or other types of modified mufflers will be allowed.

A sound survey was done recently to see how loud the noise would be, Johnson said. The consultant, hired by The Big Muddy Workshop, used “the most “sophisticated computer model available” to check noise levels on the track and near the six homes. Since actual bikes could not be used because the track is not built yet the consultant used noise levels from a track in Colorado.

Both decibel and annoyance levels were checked, Johnson said, explaining that the latter measures people’s tolerance to noise. The computer model measured  levels for one bike to 40, the maximum that would be allowed to race at one time.

When as many as 30 bikes were on the track, the noise level did not exceed the county’s standard of 65 decibel, Johnson said. Background noise in the area measured 56 decibels. But when 30 to 40 bikes were on the track, the decibel level was one above the county standard.

The sound survey results were submitted to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department for review, and the agency found them acceptable, Johnson said, but suggested the standard muffler requirement.

“The study tried to make the worst-case scenario,” Johnson said, and used noisier two-cycle dirt bikes in the computer model.

Dale questioned the survey results, saying there’s always a margin of error. He believes noise levels could be 10 decibels higher than the standard when 30 to 40 bikes are on the track.

Johnson said the track would  be open only during the day, and the Lincoln Sports Foundation would be in charge of operations. Motocross riders would have to pay a fee to cover track maintenance.

“It would be open to anyone who wants to use it,” Johnson said.

Dale said he would like to see the track modified for BMX racing so kids who can’t afford to buy dirt bikes could use the track, too.

“I’m trying to work with them. I’m not going to beat a $1 million project,” Dale said. “If done right, it could be a very positive thing, especially for the kids. They need something like this.”

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.