Buying a house on a main road

gallygirl

I would not consider living on a main road (I always tell estate agents not to send me anything called Street or Road!).

I would be especially concerned about a T-Junction. Bad enough to have traffic going past, but surely worse to have traffic braking and accelerating?

barrymoney

I've also had the problem of a too quiet road, where kids turn it into a playground and kick footballs around your garden etc. Depends what gets to you! I'd not be against a main road at all, unless the main bedroom(s) are at the front and too noisy.

Feline_friendly

I would go at variuos times and moniter the type of traffic and how much goes by...then decide if this would bother you. Every body has their own likes and dislikes..so what would annoy th heck out of 1 person may not bother you at all.

Cat proof the garden or keep them as house cats....cats just as easily get run over on qiuet roads...i have lost 2 on qiuet roads...30mph with speed bumps! So really the main road isnt any worse than a normal road..IMO

breadlinebetty

I would never live on a main road. All properties on main roads fetch cheaper asking prices due to the noise of traffic, the pollution, the possible danger and the view of traffic. Bad place for kids and pets, just terrible really.

People may say you get used to the constant noise of traffic but that isn't true - you just get used to feeling irritated by it.

You can't beat a bit of peace and quiet and for those people moaning about kids - not all quiet roads have kids playing in the street. In fact, few roads do play in any street these days. But if you do live in a road with kids playing at least they're not out there all day like traffic blasting past!

m_13

We used to live on Alder Road in Poole. A busy road leading to a roundabout which meant queuing traffic at various times, including double decker buses. I once caused a stir whilst on my cross trainer in the bedroom as some lads on the top deck spotted me bobbing up and down.

The road noise was dreadful and we couldn't open our front windows at all. We had issues with getting out onto Alder Road as the queuing traffic, particularly in the morning, wouldn't let us out. We also got a load of rubbish on our front garden from people chucking stuff out of cars.

We then moved to a cul-de-sac off Ashley Road. The noise was far better but we still had a problem turning out onto Ashley Road in rush hour.

If you are considering the main road as a possible issue then I guarantee that others will when you come to sell. I wouldn't live on a main road now. There's a reason why the properties on main roads and next to railway lines in Sim City and other 'god' games are always cheaper by default!

breadlinebetty

That's another thing - the parking. Or rather - not being able to due to double red lines or hordes of traffic already parked there. Getting out is massive problem too as the previous poster said.

My cousin used to live on a main road close to some shops and shoppers used to toss fish and chip wrappers, KFC boxes etc in her garden. She had a bakers nearby too and occasionally had the odd half-eaten sausage roll slung in her front! Awful!

provista_2

We are quite lucky as at this end of the village there is only 1 take away (small Chinese ans not open late)and its to close for people to leave things in our garden and the other shops are a 5/10 min walk

scooby1001

I have lived on a main road for 7 years now and my children were very young when we moved there. Personally i have had no negative experience of it. We have 2 cats who are 4 years old and have never been run over.

I think it is other people who think it must be terrible living on a main road. You get used to the noise of the traffiice very quickly and don't even notice it.

barnaby-bear

tyllwyd wrote: »

I used to live on a reaonably busy road in a town with only a pavement and a very small front garden area, and my main complaint was the pollution - when you wiped the window frames down at the front of the house, they would be black with soot.

I found this, a fine mist of muck..... it's a bit depressing on a summers morning to wake up to traffic noise rather than birdsong - just doesn't seem right. We never got used to the noise just used to tolerating it and getting in/out of the drive was hairy....

barnaby-bear

barnaby-bear wrote: »

I found this, a fine mist of muck..... it's a bit depressing on a summers morning to wake up to traffic noise rather than birdsong - just doesn't seem right. We never got used to the noise just used to tolerating it and getting in/out of the drive was hairy....

Forgot to say also seemed less friendly - people don't potter around their front gardens, leave their front dorrs open while the kids play out front, wash their cars on a main road so you don't really see or exchange pleasantries....