The highway's route was established before your house was even on planning maps, let alone built.

That's the answer to a question I explored in last week's column, in which I reported on efforts by North Raleigh residents to get a noise abatement wall along the final phase of the N.C. 98 bypass, which is under construction between Capital Boulevard and NC. 98.

Residents want to know why the N.C. Department of Transportation plans to build a noise abatement wall only on the north side of the bypass.

DOT is building a combination of a noise abatement wall and a noise abatement berm (made of earth) from Retail Drive to about two-thirds of the way to where the bypass meets Old N.C. 98.

But nothing is planned for the south side of the road. This has caused a lot of unhappiness, particularly from residents of Wakefield Plantation, the sprawling development south of the bypass.

This week, I finally got hold of Dennis Jernigan, the construction engineer for Division 5, which includes Wake County. (He was out of the office much of last week.)

The reason for the different treatment, Jernigan said, is that the homes on the north side of the bypass are older. The highway's route was planned in 1996, Jernigan said. Wakefield Plantation plans did not become public until a year later, he said.

"If you're there first, we have to plan our building around you," he explained. "If we're there first, you have to plan your building around us. And we were there first."

He added: "I sympathize with complaints of the people, but our policy does not allow us to build what they're asking for."

Jernigan's comments' were not as brusque as they may appear in print -- he was just trying to put into simple terms DOT policy. But he was passing the buck.

Are the developers of Wakefield willing to build a noise abatement wall? I can't tell you; calls to Randy Smith of Wakefield's development branch were not returned as of press time.

This seems like a situation in which the powers-that-be should listen to the people, people like Gordon Uscier, who wrote in a letter to the editor: "We would appreciate if the State, County, Builder, and community got together to help resolve the safety and noise issues."