Roads and Maritime Services follow detailed procedures that provide a consistent process across NSW for the assessment of traffic noise impacts. Road traffic noise mitigations are generally developed as part of the environmental impact assessment. Further noise modelling is completed as part of the detailed design stage of a project.

As a first priority Roads and Maritime seeks to reduce road noise at the source through careful road design and mitigation measures such as lower noise pavements, noise walls and earth mounds. Where target noise levels cannot be achieved through at-source measures, the next step may be to implement at-house noise treatments.

attended noise monitoring image

Noise factsheet

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Noise reports

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Gallery

Sound pressure in decibels image
Noise wall landscaping
Noise baffle under bridge girders
Unattended noise monitoring at a residential property

FAQs

What is operational noise?

When the Pacific Highway is upgraded it will be a source of traffic noise in nearby areas. This is what we call operational noise.

In cases where sections of the highway go through new areas or is closer to properties, there will be increases in the level of road traffic noise.

In other cases, where the highway is further away or the project is within the existing highway corridor, there would be less of a change in the level of noise or the noise level may decrease.

How is operational noise assessed?

Roads and Maritime Services uses the same methodology and guidelines for management and mitigation of operational noise on all state roads.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Road Noise Policy states what traffic noise levels at houses should be following the upgrade.

A link to the NSW Road Noise policy is located on this page.

How is operational noise measured?

The measurement unit for sound and noise is decibels (dB). A sound level in dB represents the sound pressure level, which is the amount of sound a listener receives.

As sound levels near a road may vary, such as when a truck is driving past, the LAeq (Equivalent Continuous Level) measurement is used to show an average noise level over a given period.

What are the target noise levels for the highway upgrade?

During the design and noise assessment process we generally seek to achieve the

following noise levels at residences:

• 55 decibels during the day and 50 decibels at night for new freeways or main roads in the new areas

• 60 decibels during the day and 55 decibels at night for upgrades of existing roads

Other noise sensitive receivers such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes and places of worship are also considered.