Trying to get back to LDing. Questions

I was introduced to LDing by "Waking Life" and by a roommate of mine ~5 yrs ago who used to LD 3 times a night (without effort, apparently it ran in his mom's side of the family).

I started to read up on LDing and started to practice RCs during the day and had success with MILD=>DILD. I used to LD about twice a week and I became pretty "practiced" in dream control and incubating various dreams. For whatever reason (I can't remember when, or why), I stopped LDing about 4 years ago.

I recently had a LD that involved a DC from my past who I had, what you might call a somewhat traumatic experience with. The dream started in a relatively normal way and similar to an experience I had IRL but I quickly recognized a dream sign for some reason and became lucid. Because I hadn't had much practice with LDing the dream didn't last very long (~10mins dream time) but I was able to have a very therapeutic experience and that reinvigorated my "practice".

I've been keeping a dream journal, practicing RCs and mantras throughout the day and trying to go back to the basics but I have a few questions.
1. I live in an apartment with a fair bit of road noise and I'm wondering about the impact this has on my sleep architecture and dreams. Is there such thing as a "noise blanket" I could hang over the window? Do people have good or bad experiences with white/grey/pink noise machines?

2. Sometimes my dreams are vivid, and I'm conscious of the dream, but not necessarily that I am dreaming. It's basically the verge of becoming lucid, and I'm not sure if there's something that's causing the snag for making the jump to lucidity. Also, other nights, my dreams are not vivid at all and I have poor recall in the morning

3. LD aids. I tried taking alpha-GPC to see what sort of effect it would have on me (thinking of galantamine as more potent, and therefore "starting low") and taking it at night made it difficult to sleep. I understand the pharmacological mechanisms, but also know that from a pharmacokinetic POV, there should still be some effect even if taken in the daytime (albeit much more mild). Is there any harm in taking alpha-GPC/choline and galantamine in the morning so as to reduce the plasma levels enough so I can sleep, while still having the beneficial effects?

Can someone remind me how long it takes to reliably have successful LDs? Last time I started, I didn't know what was possible so I wasn't as eager as I am now:)

welcome to dreamviews!

Yea I think a white noise machine would be your cheapest option, much better than soundproofing your apartment. Senses in real life affect your dreams while you are sleeping so yea I think the noise outside might affect your dreams.