Living with noise: planning land use with highway traffic noise in mind can help local agencies improve residents' quality of life

Public Roads,  July-August, 2003  by Chris Corbisier

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

In denser urban areas, where available land is diminishing and people often prefer to live close to highways for ease of travel, planners can consider other abatement measures. Options include zoning requirements for residential areas that mandate setbacks (added distance) from the highway or ordinances to create exterior or interior noise limits. Communities can use the following approaches to encourage noise-compatible land-use planning:

* Planning, zoning, or other legal means, such as subdivision or development standards, building codes, health codes, or occupancy permits.

* Municipal controls, including land or easement purchases, or the acceptance of land donations.

* Public education to inform citizens, developers, and planners of the options for structures and land uses that can exist in harmony near a roadway.

* Site planning, architectural design, and construction methods that incorporate acoustical considerations.

According to Mark Pfefferle, a planning coordinator for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, increased traffic and growth are driving Montgomery County, MD, to update its noise guidelines for subdivisions. "The least desirable areas for residential developments have been passed over," he says, "but now developers are looking to build near major highways to accommodate the rapid growth in the region." Pfefferle says that Montgomery County had noise guidelines in place since 1983, but now the county uses the FHWA Traffic Noise Models[R] to assess the noise problem.

"Noise is an issue that people should not avoid," he adds. "I lived in a noise-impacted area and hated it. The more information you have, the better you can mitigate noise and improve the living environment for residents."

Acoustical Solutions

Acoustical planning--designing a site or building a house with noise considerations in mind--also can help address the problem, For example, building homes behind existing hills can help block noise. Privacy walls, intended to reduce residents' views of the highway, can be extended a few feet higher to block much of the noise from entering the first floor of a residence.

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) considers future expansion of highways when designing and constructing noise barriers.

"When building new walls for projects, we increase the footing size to accommodate a [1.2-meter] 4-foot extension on top of whatever is constructed originally," says Angie Newton, senior transportation planner with ADOT. "If you build a new wall knowing that there may be a need to raise it due to a future widening or capacity increase, you avoid having to tear it down and spend a lot of money just to get a few extra feet."

ADOT is developing a document to provide local governments and developers with a better understanding of the agency's roles and responsibilities in planning, designing, constructing, and maintaining freeway corridors. Including answers to frequently asked questions and recommendations on how to deal with issues ranging from noise mitigation and rights-of-way to utility coordination during construction, the document offers guidance to help municipalities work together to manage growth effectively.