What is Traffic Noise?
Traffic noise is unwanted sound from vehicles operating on roadways. Most traffic noise in Edmonton is produced by tires moving against the pavement. Engine noise can also contribute, especially from large vehicles like buses and transport trucks.
People experience noise differently based on their sensitivity to sound. To help address concerns about traffic noise, the City measures the average sound level on a typical weekday (dBA Leq24) to help evaluate the impact of noise on a community.
Urban Traffic Noise Policy
The Urban Traffic Noise Policy dictates how the City deals with traffic noise mitigation and was last updated in 2013. The revised Urban Traffic Noise Policy was approved at Council in March, 2013.
City Council March 5, 2013 - Edmonton's Urban Traffic Noise Policy Update Item 6.6
Sources of Noise Problems
Background Traffic Noise
The City of Edmonton’s Urban Traffic Noise Policy (UTNP) provides acceptable noise level thresholds for the City of Edmonton and assigns responsibility for reducing excessive background traffic noise in residential areas.
Noise Nuisances
The City of Edmonton’s Community Standards Bylaw 14600 deals with noise nuisances from all sources, including motorcycles, construction, neighbours and company operations.
Railways
Railway noise is addressed under federal jurisdiction. The City’s UTNP and Community Standards Bylaw 14600 do not apply to trains or rail yard activities.
Airports
The City’s UTNP and community standards bylaw do not apply to noise from planes or airports.
Measuring Noise
Although we may hear background noise at a constant volume, sound waves fluctuate rapidly and include frequencies outside our range of hearing. The decibel scale measures the intensity of sound, where 0 decibels represents the human hearing threshold and 130 decibels represents the human pain threshold. Typical daily noise levels are expressed as dBA Leq24, which is a logarithmic average of all noise over a 24 hour period.
Exposure to Traffic Noise
Prolonged exposure to high noise levels over 85 dBA can cause permanent hearing damage. In General, traffic noise does not usually reach these extreme levels. The standard acceptable noise threshold in an outdoor area in Edmonton is 65 dBA Leq24.
A 3 dBA noise increase is barely audible, whereas a 10 dBA increase doubles the noise level. An urban area where the noise level is 65 dBA Leq24 is six times louder than a quiet rural setting where the noise level is only 30 dba Leq24.
Frequently Asked Questions
Higher traffic volumes produce more traffic noise. Doubling the traffic on a roadway will increase noise levels by approximately 3 dBA, which is barely audible.
Proximity to the roadway is a large factor in noise levels. The closer you are to the roadway the greater the noise will be. Doubling the distance from the roadway will lower the decibel level by 3 dBA.
The speed limit has to be reduced by 20 km/h to noticeably decrease traffic noise. Most arterial roadways in Edmonton have speed limits of 50 or 60 km/h. The City will not use posted speed limits of less than 50 km/h.
Roadways like Whitemud Drive are designed for greater traffic volumes and speeds. They're necessary to move people and goods throughout the city. An “artificial” reduction in the posted limit on a road like Whitemud Drive creates safety concerns because drivers tend to travel at speeds that feel comfortable, creating greater discrepancies between the fastest and slowest drivers.
While there are notable benefits to reducing tire interaction noise with the use of rubberized asphalt (crumb rubber), the City is currently assessing the long term impact it has on reducing traffic noise.
The effectiveness of rubberized asphalt is impacted by our harsh winter season (freeze thaw), snow plowing, and sanding.
Noise tests done by the City have discovered noise from concrete pavement is 1 dBA louder than noise from asphalt pavement. The difference in noise levels between concrete and asphalt are not noticeable to the human ear.
In an urban setting like the City of Edmonton, the road right-of-way is not wide enough for vegetation to achieve a significant reduction in the noise level.
The Community Standards Bylaw deals with “nuisance” noise sources, including noisy vehicles. Complaints are addressed by the Edmonton Police Service as well as the City.
See Noise Concerns.
There is no difference on noise levels between double-glazed and triple glazed windows.
If the original windows you replace are the older metal sliders with single panes of glass in each of the sliders, new windows will noticeably reduce the noise levels. If you plan on replacing your windows for the purpose of reducing noise, consider high sound insulating windows.
Styrofoam insulation is too light-weight to act as a noise barrier and not porous enough to act as an acoustic absorber. Although Styrofoam provides good thermal insulation, it provides poor acoustic insulation.
Some types of insulation do have sound attenuating properties and can be effective when used with other sound reduction techniques.
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