P & D CONSULTANTS - 2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Grand Avenue Widening Project Environmental Impact Report Section 3.0 Noise has been defined as unwanted sound and it is known to have adverse effects on humans. From these known effects of noise, criteria have been established to help protect public health and safety and prevent disruption of certain human activities. These criteria are based on such known impacts of noise on humans such as hearing loss, speech interference, sleep interference, physiological responses and annoyance, as described below: Hearing Loss is not a concern in associated with surface transportation and roads. The potential for noise induced hearing loss is most commonly associated with occupational noise exposures in heavy industry or very noisy work environments. Noise levels in neighborhoods associated with roads and traffic are not sufficiently loud to cause hearing loss. Speech Interference is one of the primary concerns related to environmental noise. Normal conversational speech is in the range of 60 to 65 dBA and any noise in this range or louder may interfere with speech. There are specific methods of describing speech interference as a function of distance between the speaker and the listener and voice levels. Sleep Interference is a major noise concern associated with traffic noise. Sleep disturbance studies have identified interior noise levels that have the potential to cause sleep disturbance. Sleep disturbance does not necessarily mean awakening from sleep, but can refer to altering the pattern and stages of sleep. Physiological Responses are those measurable effects of noise on people which are realized as changes in pulse rate or blood pressure, for example. While such effects can be induced and observed, the extent to which these physiological responses cause harm or are sign of harm is not known. Annoyance is the most difficult of all noise responses to describe. Annoyance is a very individual characteristic and can vary widely from person to person. What one person considers tolerable can be quite unbearable to another of equal hearing capability. The public reaction to different noise levels varies from community to community. Extensive research has been conducted on humans' responses to exposure of different levels of noise through community response surveys. Community noise standards are derived from tradeoffs between community response surveys, such as this, and economic considerations for achieving these levels. Adjacent Land Uses An important part of this noise analysis was the identification of noise sensitive uses that may potentially be impacted by the proposed project. This would include residences, schools and other noise sensitive uses adjacent to the project segment of Grand Avenue or along other roads that may be affected by project -related traffic. In the case of the Grand Avenue widening, there are existing residential uses along the street alignment, both north and south of I-5. The noise sensitive uses adjacent to the project segment of Grand Avenue include single family residences, multiple family apartments, Frederick Remington Elementary School and Nuestra F.IPROJ-ENVIGrand eirWew Text- GrandlSection 3 SplitlSection 3.6.doc Page 3.6-3