Officials believe the new water ride proposed for Six Flags will not create any noise problems because riders will be in tubes.
This is a view of a Bonzai Pipelines ride in Maryland, the same kind of ride that Six Flags New England plans to build in Agawam.
AGAWAM - The Zoning Board of Appeals Monday approved the special permit Six Flags New England needs to erect a new, 65-foot-tall water ride at its amusement park on Main Street.
The board voted 3-0 after a public hearing during which a resident raised questions about how much noise the new attraction might generate.
“The screaming from the water park makes you insane,” Denise E. Vershon of 1708 Main St. said. “The park is expanding closer and closer to people’s homes.”
Vershon asked if Six Flags has any long-term plan to do noise mitigation.
In response to a question by board member Gary E. Suffriti, Six Flags New England President John Winkler said if noise becomes a problem the park will take measures.
However, Six Flags officials said they doubt the new ride will create much noise because people will be moving along in tubes.
“I don’t think this is going to be like roller-coaster screaming,” Suffriti said.
“I don’t think it is going to add hardly anything to decibel levels,” board chair Doreen A. Prouty said.
The new ride, to be called Bonzai Pipelines, will be a water slide complex with six drop-hatch slides. It would be part of the Hurricane Harbor section of the park.
Six Flags officials hope to have the ride up and running by Memorial Day Weekend of 2013.
Plans call for a structure that will be 78 feet tall, including a canopy. A special permit is needed for structures more than 45 feet in height within 250 feet of a property line. The Planning Board has approved site plans for the ride.
After reaching the top of the ride, guests will walk into a state-of-the-art “DrenalineDrop” launching capsule, where the floor drops from beneath them, sending them free-falling down a slide, twisting and turning before landing in a splash runout. Riders will surf the 257-foot slide at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.
The new ride will be built in an area in the southwest corner of the park now used as a graveled parking area for park employees.
The Zoning Board of Appeals in July granted Six Flags the special permit it needs to build the highest swing-set ride in the world. Park officials want to build a 385-foot-tall swing set ride to be called “Star Flyer.”