Summary and conclusions

Evaluering af vejstøjstrategien, hovedrapport

Many of the initiatives of the strategy on road traffic noise have been completed but there is still a need for an effort to reduce road traffic noise

Many of the initiatives of the strategy on road traffic noise have been completed but there is still a need for an effort to reduce road traffic noise

The 10 initiatives of the National Strategy on Road Traffic Noise have in all important aspects been completed. In addition there has been an on-going effort by the Government to reduce noise from national roads. An initiative taken be the Danish Government, “Sustainable transport – better infrastructure” has lead to political agreements on a sustainable transport policy, which includes a continuation and expansion of this effort.

In spite of the governmental effort an some effort by the municipalities is has to be recognised that the number of dwellings exposed to noise above the general guidelines is not declining so far and a growing part of the population reports annoyance from traffic noise.

Approximately 10 % of the noise exposed dwellings in Denmark are located at the national roads. The rest are located at municipality roads. The main challenge in reducing road traffic noise is therefore related to the municipality roads.

New research confirms that road traffic noise has health effects and shows that annoyance and the health effects from road traffic noise are not only related to the noise level. It is also influenced by the design of the dwelling and the soundscape of the neighbourhood. Road traffic noise has got direct impact on the well-being of a large part of the population.

Background and objectives

The Danish National Strategy on Road Traffic Noise from 2003 recognises the need for action. Therefore it includes 10 governmental initiatives with the main focus on abatement of noise from new state roads, extended use of noise reducing pavement, assistance to citizens who wants to improve noise insulation of their dwellings, transfer of knowledge and tools to the municipalities, updated tools on land use planning, a strengthened Danish effort for lower international limits on noise from vehicles and tyres and activities to promote use of low-noise tyres.

In 2008 The Environmental Protection Agency asked Rambøll to evaluate the status of the 10 initiatives as the National Strategy on Road Traffic Noise now for five years has been the foundation for the national effort against road traffic noise. As 90 % of the dwellings exposed to road traffic noise above the noise limits are located at municipality roads the evaluation includes a status on the municipality effort to reduce road traffic noise and the tools used by the municipalities.

Road traffic noise has got health effects and is the cause of annoyance. For this reason the evaluation also includes an update of the present understanding of the health effects and the annoyance experienced by citizens living in areas exposed to road traffic noise.

Finally the evaluation includes a status for the technical measures used for road traffic noise abatement.

The evaluation will be part of a basis for decisions on a possible adjustment of the strategy.

The Investigation

A basic element of this evaluation is the results of interviews of employees at 35 Danish municipalities, selected among the municipalities with the biggest exposure of road traffic noise on populated areas.

Secondly the evaluation has included a screening of significant literature, reports, guidelines etc. that has been published by international and national research and development projects. We have investigated how road traffic noise is handled in other countries, mainly our nearest neighbouring countries, Norway and Sweden, with the purpose to compare the Danish effort for less road traffic noise with the effort done in other similar countries.

There is an on-going research on the effects that road traffic noise has got on peoples health and well-being. For this reason we have carried out a literature study to update our understanding on the health effects and annoyance caused by road traffic noise. This study has been carried out by a scientist team at Institutet för Miljömedicin, Karolinska institutet, Stockholm. For many years this group has been a major participant in Swedish and international research on the impacts of noise on humans.

Main Conclusions

In 2003 the National Strategy on Road Traffic Noise highlighted the health effects of road traffic noise and for the first time there was a specific estimate on the economic consequences of the effects. At the same time there was a renewed focus on the annoyance caused by the noise. The annoyance was quantified through a new investigation of the relationship between road traffic noise levels and house prices. In this way it was possible to calculate the impact of road traffic noise on the society:

800 – 2,200 people hospitalised and 200 – 500 incidents of premature deaths each year.
More than one out of four dwellings in Denmark is exposed to road traffic noise above the noise limit for new dwellings (approx. 705.000)
6.1 % of the population is regularly annoyed by traffic noise inside their dwelling.
A total cost for the society of 8.7 billion DKK each year.

Today six years later it can be concluded that several research projects confirms the negative impact of road traffic noise on health and well-being and the problem is not reduced:

Health effects are unchanged.
The number of exposed dwellings is not reduced.
7.8 % of the population is regularly annoyed by traffic noise inside their dwelling.
The costs for the society have not reduced.

The number of dwellings exposed to noise above the noise limit for new dwellings was in 2001 estimated to be 705,000 and in 2006 estimated to be 786,000. This development is, however, influenced by the different methods used for noise mapping in 2001 and 2006 respectively.

It is the recommendation of Rambøll that conclusions on the development in the number of exposed dwellings are made with great caution.

Nevertheless is has to be recognized that there is no indication of a reduction in the number of traffic noise exposed dwellings and it seems reasonable to suspect that the number is growing.

On the other hand it has been established that the Government and the municipalities have been doing an effort to reduce road traffic noise. The 10 initiatives of the strategy have in all important aspects been completed although the effort to promote more strict noise requirements on tyres and vehicles has had no effect so far.

The governmental initiative, “Sustainable transport – better infrastructure”, of December 2008 has lead to political agreements on a sustainable transport policy. The policy includes a continuation and expansion of the governmental effort on reducing road traffic noise from national roads and the effort to provide knowledge and tools for the work being done by the municipalities.

The headlines of the 10 initiatives are included in the summary below.

Initiative	Status
1. The Danish effort within the European Union on more strict requirements on noise from vehicles and tyres will be strengthened.	An EU-directive on noise form tyres (2001) has been without effect. New EU-legislation, which includes noise from tyres and labelling of tyres, is under preparation. Denmark has argued for more strict requirements. The initiative has been completed.
2. Consumers are informed on the possibility to use tyres that produces less noise.	The absence of a tyre labelling scheme has been an obstacle for any consumer information activity. An expected EU-legislation on labelling of tyres will include noise. The initiative is not completed.
3. The present level of protection against noise from decided and planed road investments at the national roads will be maintained. This will contribute to a significant reduction of noise along national roads.	The Government has maintained the level of protection and a number of new road construction projects have reduced the number of noise exposed dwellings along national roads. The initiative has been completed.
4. The possibility to exchange the windows of a dwelling to windows with both noise reducing and energy saving qualities will, is possible, be included in planned activities to promote windows with high energy efficiency.	It was not possible to include noise in the campaigns for windows with high energy efficiency. The Environmental Protection Agency has carried out an information effort on noise reducing windows and provides information on its home page. There is a need for a coordinated effort on this issue. The initiative is partly completed.
5. As documentation on noise reducing pavement becomes available the effort on providing information on the effect of different kinds of pavement will be increased. The purpose will be to provide better basis for decisions by the road authorities on using this tool.	Noise reducing pavement has gained a wide distribution and is today used on a routine basis by most municipalities and by the Danish Road Directorate. The preferred types are thin layer noise reducing pavements. Noise reducing porous pavement has almost only been used on an experimental basis. The Danish Road Institute under The Danish Road Directorate carries out a significant research and development activity on noise reducing pavements and participates in a row of international projects. The institute performs a considerable effort on providing information to the municipalities. The initiative has been completed.
6. In relation to the on-going exchange of pavements on the national roads is will be evaluated on the basis of documentation and technical and financial limitation if there is a basis for using noise reducing pavements.	The Danish Road Directorate is now using thin layer noise reducing pavements for all new road projects and for the on-going maintenance of existing roads, when the roads has a noise impact on residential areas. The initiative has been completed.
7. The guideline on road traffic noise in residential areas will be updated with respect to both the EU-Directive on Environmental Noise and the strategy on road traffic noise.	The Environmental Protection Agency published in 2007 a new guideline on road traffic noise. The guideline is not only an update but also introduces new methods, new guidelines for protection of new developments against noise and it points out the possibility for a coherent approach on noise and planning, silent areas etc. The initiative has been completed.
8. The municipalities are encouraged to be aware of the possibility that the police in accordance with the municipality can determine local speed limits on roads passing many noise exposed dwellings.	This possibility has been communicated to the municipalities. Reduced speed limits are a tool widely used by the municipalities. The motivation is often traffic safety, but the noise implications have a growing importance. Some municipalities have experienced that the police does not approve reduced speed limits. The initiative has been completed.
9. The catalogue of measures to reduce road traffic noise, their effect and economy is communicated to the municipalities.	The Danish Road Directorate and The Environmental Protection Agency have provided an on-going flow of knowledge on road traffic noise and abatement measures, mainly aimed at the municipalities. The effect is that the abatement measures are well-known within the municipalities who also use the two authorities as their main source of information. The initiative has been completed.
10. There will be carried out an evaluation of the on-going effort to reduce road traffic every five years in relation to the implementation of the EU Directive on Environmental Noise. Based on the evaluation the need for an adjustment of the strategy will be decided.	The initiative is completed with this report and a succeeding process on the need for adjustments.

Since 1992 the Danish Road Directorate has used approx. 20 million DKK each year on reducing noise from existing national roads. Subsequently it can be estimated that effort before and after introduction of the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise has been of the same size.

A series of new road projects has as an addition resulted in a reduction of the total number of noise exposed dwellings along national roads. An agreement of January 2009 between the Government and several parties of the Danish Parliament on a Green Transport Policy dedicates 400 million DKK to be used for reduction of noise from national roads and railways within the next five years. From this budget 33 million DKK has been allocated for road traffic noise in 2009 and for 2010 is allocated 59 million DKK.

Approx. 90 % of the noise exposed dwelling is located along municipality roads. It is the estimate of Rambøll that the total investment of the municipalities on reducing noise from existing roads during the period 2003 – 2008 has been less than 50 million DKK. During the same period the Government has used approx. 100 million DKK on national roads. This ratio must to some extent be seen as an unbalance in the effort against on one hand the national roads and on the other hand the municipality roads.

The interviews with employees of the municipalities indicate that it is the financial situation of the municipalities that are responsible for the limited effort on reducing road traffic noise.

Noise reducing pavements have gained a wide distribution. It includes the so-called thin layer pavements and not porous pavements. There is still a significant potential for technical development of noise reducing pavements.

New research on the importance of access to a silent side of the dwelling provides inspiration for new developments, especially in existing urban areas. The precondition for the benefit of a silent side is that the noise level on the silent side is well below the noise limit.

Project outcome

Health effects and annoyance

New research results published since 2003 confirms the conclusions of the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise on the health effects of road traffic noise and that 200 – 500 Danes are subject to premature death each year. The headlines are:

There is a confirmed and further strengthened relationship between exposure to road traffic noise at the dwelling and an increased risk for development of hypertension.
New research points out a similar relationship between road traffic noise and increased risk for development of ischaemic heart disease even though there are still uncertainties.

New research also identifies a row of characteristics of the soundscapes in the neighbourhood of dwellings that should lead to a more coherent approach on reducing road traffic noise:

A silent side at the dwelling can have significant impact on the level of annoyance and it can under the right circumstances to some extent reduce some of the effects of a high noise level on the other side of the dwelling.
It is important for the level of annoyance if the bed rooms are located against the road side with noise or against a silent side.
A high noise level in the neighbourhood can increase the annoyance from road traffic noise.
Access to silent areas, as parks or green areas, near the dwelling can to some extent reduce some of the effects of a high noise level at the dwelling

The Strategy on Road Traffic Noise concludes that the society costs caused by annoyance and health effects of road traffic noise are 8.7 billion DKK each year. The updated information on the health effects doses not indicate that this analysis should be revised. It is therefore our recommendation that the society costs of road traffic noise is calculated using the present traffic noise unit price, which is updated on a regular basis and is used for assessment of infrastructure projects.

Municipality Effort

The municipalities know and use the noise abatement measures described in the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise.

Noise reducing pavements are used by most municipalities. But both the municipalities and The Danish Road Directorate only uses thin layer types. The strategy on road traffic noise made it already in 2003 clear that both porous asphalt and thin layer pavements are cost/effective. Porous asphalt is not used in Denmark most likely because of the need for special maintenance, higher cost of construction and fear for special icy conditions. Porous asphalt is used in other countries on main roads, especially in Holland, but differences in the climatic conditions are the reason that Dutch experiences cannot easily be transferred to Danish conditions.

The municipalities use noise barriers, mainly to protect new developments from road traffic noise.

Regulation of traffic is used, but mainly with the aim to improve traffic safety, increase confidence in traffic and limit air pollution. Reduced noise is a positive side effect.

Improved insulation of buildings against noise is an accepted measure, but still used by only a few municipalities. If so it is done in the form of a partly financial support making it necessary for the owner of the dwelling to pay some of the costs. The municipalities are positive against these kinds of financial partnerships.

During 2010 approx. 35 % of the municipalities will have a action plan on noise, which as a minimum comprises main roads. Municipalities with experience from preparing and using actions plan on noise are positive se see the plan as a tool to initiate an effort on road traffic noise. Action plans on noise unite the knowledge of the municipality and creates cooperation across the organisation.

Status of the abatement measures

The present development within the EU on regulation of noise from vehicles and tyres creates an uncertainty on the effect of this measure on the total traffic noise impact. A conservative estimate is a total reduction of 2 dB in 2020.

Noise reducing pavements can with the present technology probably reduce traffic noise more that estimated in 2003. Also the costs of using thin layer pavements are reduced. There is based on these conditions a justification for a new calculation of the cost-effectiveness of this measure.

According to the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise reduced traffic speed has got a low cost-effectiveness because of the time lost by the road users. In spite of that this measure is used by the municipalities to increase traffic safety and reduce air pollution as the main reasons. In Sweden the speed limit has been reduced on some motorways as the society value of less noise was bigger than the value of time lost by the road users. It is Rambøll's recommendation that a new evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of lower speed limits is performed.

Costs of construction for noise barriers are not exactly the same today as estimated by the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise. Noise barriers for motorways are in general more expensive than barriers for other types of roads. Additionally it is a result of the implementation of new methods for calculation of road traffic noise, that noise barriers apparently has to be higher and longer than anticipated in the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise. This should be investigated further and if necessary lead to a new calculation of the cost-effectiveness of noise barriers.

The costs related to noise insulation of dwellings has developed according to the general development in prices. There is no need for a new calculation of the cost-effectiveness of the measure.

Present Initiatives

Several present Governmental initiatives include an effort to reduce road traffic noise. The specific efforts can be seen as an extension of the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise and as beacons for the national effort during the future years.

Together with the results of this evaluation these initiative can be a part of a decision on the future of the Strategy on Road Traffic Noise.

The initiatives include:

The Governments initiative on green transport "Sustainable Transport – Improved Infrastructure of December 2008 includes a row of specified steps that the Government intend to implement, among others:
- Use of noise reducing pavement
- Effort to intensify technical requirements on noise from vehicles
- Better tools for decision making on reducing road traffic noise by the municipalities
- Technical improvement of noise barriers
- Testing of the combined effect of measures to reduces noise

In January 2009 the Government and several parties of the Danish Parliament made an agreement on a Green Transport Policy. It dedicates 400 million DKK to be used for reduction of noise from national roads and railways within the next five years. A number of projects for 2009 and 2010 have been identified and financed by this agreement.

Minster for the Environment Troels Lund Poulsen has issues a national proposal for land use planning, which includes a number of expectations on the land use planning performed by the municipalities. On noise the expectations includes:
- Traffic planning that reduces traffic noise and air pollution and limits the number of cars and heavy vehicles in the cities.
- Green areas for relaxation, playing and exercise.
- Use of noise reducing pavements.
The Minister for the Environment has also issued an initiative on city policy and a paper "The Modern, Sustainable City". It points out noise, noise reduction and silent areas as important element in the development of the future cities. The paper ask the municipalities for proposals on solutions that can make it possible to design more dense developments and at the same time ensure less noise from traffic.

Traffic noise is often mentioned as one of the problems of the city. If annoyance and health effects coursed by road traffic noise are to be reduced it is important that noise is not only a part of the problem. To fight traffic noise through useful measures must also be a part of the solution and a healthy soundscape a part of the objective.