Safety / Health / Quality of Life

Safety - Because of traffic congestion, pedestrian walkway, and delays in the arrival of first responders, safety concerns about the proposed complex are significant.  

Health - Noise pollution is known to damage peoples' ears and overall health, including psychological well being. The noise from the project will prevent residents from enjoying our kids' outdoor games, outdoor concerts, fishing and kayaking the Kinnickinnic River, putting a baby down for a proper nap, taking a hike in our parks, grilling outdoors with our family.... Basically, we will lose the peace and quiet for which many of us chose to live in River Falls, Wisconsin. Imagine your life in River Falls with race car sounds from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Click Here.

If the developer is proposing the same racetrack open hours as the Rice County, MN proposal, only seven hours of quiet are provided between the end of events and the opening of the tracks the next morning. If traffic noise is taken into account, the seven hours is diminished. How will this affect babies, children, and adults who require more than seven hours of sleep? Some people cannot schedule their sleep around the racetrack's schedule. 

Noise Pollution Studies - Noise negatively affects the cognitive function of school aged children, indices physiological stress reactions, cardiovascular disease, and other psychiatric disorders, all of which hurt productivity. (A. Szczepan ´ska et al. / Transportation Research Part D 36 (2015) 167-177).  

Studies have shown that people exposed to high levels of traffic noise, with a 24-hour average of 55 decibels or more, are at a higher risk for hypertension as well, (Barregard, Bonde, and Ohrström, 2009; Bodin et al., 2009), and those exposed to 60 decibels or more are a higher risk for stroke (Sørensen et al., 2011). See this and other studies reviewed in Swoboda, A. , Nega, T. and Timm, M. (2015), HEDONIC ANALYSIS OVER TIME AND SPACE: THE CASE OF HOUSE PRICES AND TRAFFIC NOISE. Journal of Regional Science, 55: 644-670.  As stated in the Minnesota guidelines, "Noise is a pollutant. While its physical and emotional effects are difficult to define quantitatively, the noise level itself can be measured."  An EIS is necessary to determine the actual noise pollution levels that would be created by the entire complex. 

Quality of Life - Although Quality of Life impact of any proposed project is supposed to be included in an EAW. The EAW for th Rice County, MN Racetrack proposal was silent on any quality of life impact. Certainly, these impacts concerned nearby residents and those residents who may not live nearby but will be affected by traffic congestion. 

1. The noise would be heard for miles and will be generated daily from 7 AM to 10 PM (and midnight for events, which could occur frequently).  
2. Commuting times could increase due to traffic congestion, which could certainly degrade residents’ quality of life. 
3. Light pollution would eliminate the enjoyment of the night sky  
4. An EIS should be initiated by the county to study the quality of life impacts on residents should this proposal move forward.