NOISE AND URBAN PEDESTRIAN AREAS

This study consists of three reports which treat the subject of noise within the context of urban pedestrian areas. The main concern of the study is noise mitigation, although its contents cover a wide range of topics related to noise in the urban environment. The first report, "Noise Mitigation Techniques for Pedestrian Areas: State-of-the Art," is intended to serve local governments as a planning guide to noise mitigation techniques appropriate to pedestrian improvements. Although extensive research has been done on noise mitigation and on pedestrian areas, little analysis has been done treating the two subjects together. The noise mitigation techniques which have potential for application in pedestrian areas have had to be drawn from a variety of other applications. The second report, "The Application of Noise Mitigation Techniques in Pedestrian Areas," goes beyond the conceptual treatment of noise a presented in the first report to an understanding of the environment of the pedestrian area. The concern of this report is to determine how noise has actually been treated in the planning, design and/or operation of pedestrian areas which have been or are being constructed in the United States. A questionnaire was sent to eighteen malls throughout the country. The analysis showed that nearby surface transportation vehicles are the major contributors to the noise levels in and around pedestrian areas. Another major source of noise is construction equipment. Efforts to mitigate the noise from these sources include routing vehicles away from the pedestrian area, the use of masking noise to prevent unwanted sound intrusion, retrofitting buses and construction equipment, the use of temporary enclosures around construction equipment, limiting the hours during which construction is permitted and purchasing quieter construction equipment. The main focus of the third report, "An Evaluation of Noise and Urban Spaces," was to determine if certain design elements commonly found in public spaces have any effect on the reduction of noise. Several public plazas in New York City were monitored. Several factors appear to have some effect on the reduction of noise levels--changes in site elevation, distance from the noise source and walls positioned between the source and recipient of noise. The intent of the entire study is twofold--to serve as an introduction to the subject of noise in urban pedestrian areas and to an impetus for continued exploration.

• Corporate Authors:

  Environmental Protection Agency

  Office of Noise Abatement and Control, 1921 Jeff Davis Hwy
  Arlington, VA  United States  20460

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Publication Date: 1980-11

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: v.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Architecture; Buses; Noise barriers; Noise control; Pedestrian malls; Sound level; Transit malls
• Uncontrolled Terms: Noise reduction
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00387984
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: EPA 550/9-80-321
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 30 1984 12:00AM