The report presents the findings of a study of eight noise barriers installed along interstate and primary roads. A total of 488 interviews were conducted in eight communities adjacent to the barriers to determine citizens' perception of the effectiveness- of these structures. For all eight sites, 57% of the people interviewed were satisfied with the noise barriers and a little more than half felt the barriers were reducing noise. Citizens were most satisfied with a beige metal barrier and least satisfied with a blue metal barrier. Aesthetically, a wood plank barrier was rated the most desirable and the concrete wall the least. Noise barriers were seen as having a far more positive than negative effect on the adjacent communities. However, noise attenuation was found to be the primary positive effect in but three of the communities surveyed, and these three were adjacent to an interstate highway. In addition to attenuating noise, barriers were said to give uniformity to the appearance of the neighborhood, increase property values, enhance the environment and safety, and increase privacy and isolation. Perceived negative effects included degradation of community aesthetics and decreases in property values. About 23% of the respondents said they could have settled for a cash award in lieu of a barrier. A significant number of respondents indicated that vegetation should be considered as both an alternative for and as an addition to noise barriers.
The report presents the findings of a study of timber, concrete, and metal barriers installed along certain of the Commonwealth's interstate and prima...
This report has been developed to provide information about the problem of highway traffic noise and the United States' response to that problem. This...
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving a Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS)/National Transportation Library (NTL)
Web-based service.
Thank you for visiting.
You are about to access a non-government link outside of
the U.S. Department of Transportation's National
Transportation Library.
Please note: While links to Web sites outside of DOT are
offered for your convenience, when you exit DOT Web sites,
Federal privacy policy and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation
Act (accessibility requirements) no longer apply. In
addition, DOT does not attest to the accuracy, relevance,
timeliness or completeness of information provided by linked
sites. Linking to a Web site does not constitute an
endorsement by DOT of the sponsors of the site or the
products presented on the site. For more information, please
view DOT's Web site linking policy.
To get back to the page you were previously viewing, click
your Cancel button.