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THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF BY-PASSING A COUNTRY TOWN

1982; Routledge; Linguagem: Inglês

0005-0164

D Pearson-Kirk, Kent Halstead,

Asphalt Pavement Performance Evaluation

This paper presents a summary of results from a study carried out in 1980 and 1981 on the Hume Highway at Picton, New South Wales, both and the opening of a section of the South-Western Freeway (F5) which effectively by-passed the town. The study comprised surveys of traffic flow, traffic composition, speed and noise measurements, together with opinion surveys. The results obtained from the surveys are compared with previous studies of the effects of by-passes, carried out by the Country Roads Board of Victoria and by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom. Results are also compared, where appropriate, with results from the 1979/80 commercial vehicle surveys in New South Wales, and the 1974/75 National Association of Australian State Road Authorities (NAASRA) economics of road vehicle limits study. A number of trends in the operations of commercial vehicles on the road system are indicated. The opening of the freeway resulted in substantial decreases in road traffic and in noise levels. Five models were used to predict before and after traffic noise, and particular models are recommended for use. An estimate of the value of the environmental benefits of the by-pass is presented, together with results from opinion surveys (a). The number of the covering abstract of the conference is TRIS no. 368448. (TRRL)