I have receivedĀ a response from the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency about the M4 improvements and motorway noise:
“Thank you for your letter about the proposed M4 Junctions 3 to 12 Smart Motorway scheme and the possible increase in noise levels for local residents.
We are currently undertaking an environmental assessment to determine the impact the scheme may have on the environment. The assessment considers air quality, landscape and nature conservation as well as noise and vibration and will identify any mitigation measures required. These may include the use of noise barriers made of materials which absorb noise, like those close to Junction 10, and low noise road surfacing.
The results of the environmental assessment will be available at exhibitions planned for the autumn. We will notify you of the dates and locations of the exhibitions nearer the time.”
Yours sincerely
Graham Dalton
Chief Executive
May 20, 2014
John, the M4 is a motorway, and motorways create noise. So a house nearby will be cheaper than one further away – maybe Ā£100K cheaper, maybe more, depending.
I get annoyed when people buy a house at a discount, then lobby their MP to shut down the noise, thus improving their house. We have the same behaviour at Silverstone, Santa Pod, Heathrow, etc.
Either – you lived in your house for decades, and were compensated, OR the highway was there long before you moved in. If you don’t like it then sell and move.
The Highways agency is responsible for creating highways, not for ‘quietening’ highways. Our roads are in a terrible state as it is, we do not have funds spare to waste on a lost cause, especially because like global warming, it can cost you Ā£100Billion a year for a century and will make not a jot of difference.
Reply I do not agree with you. The noise has got worse over the years, and as there are ways of abating it we should do so.
May 20, 2014
off comment but worth noting Itās also becoming increasingly clear that Mark Carney doesnāt believe any of Chancellor George Osborneās bollocks. Barely a day passes now without the central banker either threatening to cap mortgages, announcing further stress tests, or putting off rate rises because of what he thinks is āspare economic capacityā. Carney also knows, of course, that a run to raise interest would destroy Britainās banking system. The silence of the UKās Right Wing press on the now wide-open split between Mark Carney and George Osborne is deafening.