Edmonton needs plan to curb traffic noise, report says
Natasha Riebe | CBC News | Posted: April 2, 2018 1:00 PM | Last Updated: April 2, 2018
Vehicles along Jasper Avenue and Groat Road registered 90 decibels, pilot project shows
The city of Edmonton will explore ways to manage noise from speeding traffic, after a pilot project revealed that vehicles on two main corridors were going so fast they were likely as loud as a jet plane landing on a runway.
In a test between Oct. 4-17, 2016, the city placed noise-monitoring equipment at four locations in Edmonton:
- 124th Street from Jasper Avenue to 118th Avenue
- Jasper Avenue from 109th Street to 124th Street
- Groat Road from Victoria Park Road to 107th Avenue
- 109th Street from Jasper Avenue to High Level Bridge
Two test locations — Groat Road and 123rd Street at Jasper Avenue — turned out to be the noisiest. Vehicles at those locations registered up to 90 decibels, which is closer to the level of a jet than a vacuum, for example.
Noise from traffic on the average city street is 60-65 decibels, the report states.
Eric Fadden, who lives near Southgate Centre, close to Whitemud Drive and 111th Street, told CBC News he thinks traffic noise in his neighbourhood is louder than it is downtown.
He said it gets especially loud after peak hours.
"We get people racing up and down the Whitemud freeway in the evenings," he said. "After the rush hour traffic is gone and the freeway's opened up, you can hear the crotch rockets and the louder motorcycles and hot rods in the summertime."
Walter Stadnyczuk, a resident of Windsor Park near the University of Alberta, said he has grown accustomed to local noise from ambulances, firetrucks and helicopters landing at the nearby hospitals.
But it's the motorcycles that really irritate him.
"The river valley, actually, coming up Groat Road to the top of 87th Avenue, it acts like an amplifier," he said. "And you can hear it quite loudly through the whole area."
Stadnyczuk said he thinks police and bylaw officers should give out more tickets for noise infractions.
"Once the word gets around that they're enforcing a lot of this, a lot of that would be curtailed," he said.
In total, the city identified 18 areas where noise complaints from vehicles were higher than normal.
Whyte Avenue was not of them.
The city report said that was "likely due to the number of signal lights and the amount of traffic that keeps speeds slow."
The report also points out that the pilot project was done in October, not during the spring and summer when "modes of transportation, weather, lifestyle and traffic patterns would likely be different."
City administration suggests combining education, technology and enforcement in a strategy to curb traffic noise.
Other methods may include digital noise displays and automated enforcement technology.
The report shows that "traffic calming measures" such as speed bumps, curb extensions, raised crosswalks and road narrowing on non-arterial roads help reduce traffic noise.
City council is scheduled to weigh the noise management options at a community and public services meeting on Wednesday.