Residents on hills feel it most 

By George P. Hassett

Three times as many planes have flown over Somerville in the first 6 months of 2007, compared to  the same time period last year and residents say they can hear and feel the difference.

Dwight Lancaster, of Winter Hill, said he is considering moving from his home after 20 years of living in Somerville because of the increase in planes in Somerville skies.

“The quiet times I had in my home are now interrupted by these planes. It’s an incredible difference compared to the past. Sometimes when one plane is gone, I can see the next one coming,” he said.

Lancaster is not alone in noticing the difference. Alderman-at-Large William A. White, who lives at the top of Winter Hill, said he has been disturbed in the middle of the night more than once this year by planes flying over his home.

“There are a lot of hills in Somerville, and for people living on those hills, it is especially bad. You can’t sleep when it’s plane after plane,” he said.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone who lives on Prospect Hill said he thinks the planes are also flying lower and earlier in the morning.

“I can feel it in my neighborhood, especially when it’s (6 a.m.),” he said.

Many other residents have contacted the city with similar concerns, he said.

The planes soaring over Somerville come from runway 33 at Logan Airport. That runway has been used three times more this year than ever before, according to Wig Zamore, who represents Somerville on the Logan Airport Community Advisory Committee.

Flavio Leo, of the Massachusetts Port Authority, said pilots use runway 33 and fly over Somerville when winds are blowing in a Northwestern direction. The increase in the city’s air traffic is due to the unusually strong Northwest winds this year, he said. Leo said he believes planes flying over Somerville have doubled, not tripled, and that there was little that can be done to address the concerns of people in Somerville.

“Ultimately it comes down to the weather and we can’t change that,” he said.

However, for Curtatone, that approach is not acceptable.

‚ÄúThey are going to have to get more concrete answers and solutions than just throwing their hands up and saying, ‚ÄòWe can‚Äôt do anything,‚Äô‚Äù he said. 

Curtatone called the increase in air traffic “an affront to the environment” and said he will meet with Port Authority officials to discuss solutions.

Despite growing complaints in the city, Zamore said Somerville residents have not been calling the complaint line as often as other communities.

“If we don’t bother to call and complain we are much more likely to get more planes,” he said.
Zamore said it seems unfair that Somerville would experience such a dramatic increase in air traffic.

“We already have the most transportation noise and pollution because of commuters on the highway and diesel trains going through Somerville and now we have more planes than ever flying overhead,” he said.

For Lancaster, the planes overhead are becoming too much.

“On days when I know it is going to be windy, I try to leave the city and go someplace else because I just can’t handle it anymore,” he said.

White said he will submit a board order at the next aldermen meeting, inviting Port Authority and Federal Aviation Administration officials to the city to discuss his concerns.

For now, both Curtatone and Port Authority officials are asking residents disturbed by planes flying overhead to record their complaints. Curtatone asked citizens to call the city’s 311 line while Leo said people should call the Port Authority’s noise complaint line at (617) 561-3333.