Traffic Noise Impact in Road Intersections

In the framework of urban environmental control, acoustical noise is considered one of the most important physical polluting agents. In particular, urban area are strongly affected by noise coming from vehicular traffic. Nowadays traffic noise models are mainly used to predict traffic noise in urban general environments and don't takes into account conflicting points, such as intersections. Only some models consider the addition of a constant penalty due to the presence of a road intersection. In this paper the authors summarize the classification and the choice criteria of different intersections typologies, and then investigate the noise impact of different road intersections both on a review plan and on a software aided performance. The introduction of graphical elements for designers and engineers, able to furnish hints for the choice of intersection typology and geometrical features, based on the acoustical impact on urban environment, is pursued. Noise maps, easy to be read by final user, are produced for different intersection typology and compared by means of contour lines or areas.