Photo: Runner1928, via Wikipedia
The new Green Line of the Minneapolis-St. Paul light-rail line is beginning to wreak havoc on the studios of American Public Media/Minnesota Public Radio, according to an April 18 Minneapolis Star Tribune report.
The new line, which passes in front of APM’s headquarters, starts operating June 16. Metro Transit has begun test runs on the line, and APM claims the shaking and vibrations are interfering with work at its offices.
“The floor is vibrating, the ceiling is shaking, the structure is making noise, and that affects the recordings,” Nick Kereakos, chief technology officer and operations vice president for MPR and APM, told the Star Tribune.
The broadcaster and transit agency are both working to mitigate the problem.
These things are dangerous to generalize on, but it’s worth nothing that Boston’s WBUR has a relatively similar issue with the MBTA Green Line trolleys that pass within 20ft of their building.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=890+commonwealth+ave,+boston,+ma
I worked there for three years and never once heard nor felt the trolleys rumbling past. Not in the studios nor the office spaces.
That said, it’s worth noting that the trolley line predates the building by many decades, and WBUR had the opportunity to completely gut the space on the third floor and rebuild it when they moved there back in 1996. I don’t know if they specifically addressed trolley noise issues, but I’d assume it was taken into account.
I’d say that it’s certainly possible for APM to soundproof their space against trolley noise. But it could be prohibitively expensive to retrofit it that way.