The proposal for on-street light rail in the urban area of Thessaloniki was the result of a comprehensive research project undertaken by the Transport Research Unit of the University of Thessaloniki. One of the major questions that had to be answered was the evaluation of the environmental impacts likely to arise from the implementation of such a system in a vulnerable urban environment, already heavily affected by noise, air pollution and visual intrusion. This paper describes the general background and the methodology that was adopted in order to achieve an environmentally accepted introduction of the proposed light rapid transit (LRT) system. The first part of the paper describes the structure and the characteristics of the proposal, as well as the general theory regarding the environmental impacts of light rail transit, in general. In the second part, the process of its balanced introduction in the road network is discussed, based initially on the functional and geometrical characteristics of various alternatives. Then, a ranking and costing of different environmental effects of each alternative is made, following a multi-criteria method. Finally, the design of the most-preferable alternative is presented, using figures and prospective drawings of the future conditions, after the introduction of the system in the urban context.
Abstract