Porous asphalt is known to produce lower traffic noise levels than conventional non-porous road surfaces, but little information is available on its effectiveness at reducing noise nuisance experienced by people living at some distance from the road. In Summer 1994 a section of the M40 motorway to the west of High Wycombe was resurfaced with porous asphalt. This gave the Highways Agency the opportunity to assess the resulting changes in noise and noise nuisance in nearby villages. Surveys of noise and community response were undertaken at the villages before the resurfacing work started in 1994, one year later in 1995 and again in 1998. Results showed that the resurfacing produced substantial reductions in community noise exposure at villages situated about 0.5km from the motorway, and that although noise levels had increased somewhat by 1998, they were still lower than they had been before the resurfacing. The changes were associated with reductions in noise dissatisfaction ratings and other indices of noise nuisance. Resurfacing had a lesser effect at more distant villages (1.5km from the motorway). (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting