Highway Noise and Land Use Compatibility

Noise is a great impediment to land use compatibility with adjacent highways and freeways. This article reports on the results from two research projects that utilized a common data-gathering effort, and examines the relationship between highway noise and land use compatibility, based on two recent studies performed by the writers. The principal goal of one of those studies was to “push the envelope” on this interrelatedness, in an attempt to examine the bigger issue of how noise should be considered in the future in relation to definitions of appropriate land use. In doing so, a series of questions was put forth and then answered, based on an extensive literature review and a survey of state highway agencies. Several recommendations were made, the most important of which was the creation of a state-funded retrofit program to be used to solve problems for residences that otherwise would not qualify for noise abatement consideration. That recommendation is under implementation by the Arizona Department of Transportation ADOT . The project addressed the limited topic of Date of Public Knowledge. The second project was supported by the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville’s Community Transportation Innovation Academy, which is an entity funded by the Federal Highway Administration.