How far does motorway sound travel?

The_Negotiator

Greatgimp wrote: »

Have you considered the traffic fumes?

Not really an issue at that distance.

poppy_f1

im about a mile from the M8 and dont hear a thing saying that theres loads of houses then a woodland area before you hit the motorway

[Deleted User]

0.5 away here and hardly noticeable but we have trees in between. Maybe just a hum on damp evenings sometimes but the birds are noisier

Doozergirl

not_loaded wrote: »

You may well ‘start to filter it out’ and ‘don't hear it’. The problem however is selling it on again to a new viewer/buyer.

If you live ‘about 200 meters from the carriageway of a motorway’ and, ‘rarely hear any noise at all’, either it’s a very quiet motorway, or you have hearing problems.

My house is also about 200 metres from the motorway but you genuinely wouldn't appreciate that. I don't think there's any need to undermine someone who lives near to one. Sound barriers, other housing and the prevailing wind make a big difference to what people hear. I didn't even realise how close it was until we'd moved here and I saw it on google earth. There are three rows of houses between us and it and it is not noisy. If you listen you can hear it but it sounds like wind more than anything. It doesn't get particularly noisy, the day to day noise of the village far supercedes any motorway noise.

My mother in law lives slightly further down the motorway, slightly further away - about 4-500m. You can't see it but there are no houses really in between. It's quite unless when the wind changes and you can definitely hear it quite loud but it's rare - the prevailing wind takes it away from the house.

To be 0.9 miles away with a town in between, you'd not hear it all apart from listening very carefully in the dead of night for it. And I don't think the vast majority would even consider it when it was a mile away across town. Nearly 30,000 live in and around town here and no-one is much more than a mile away from the motorway because we sit in the elbow of two of them!

royP_2

From: babyharry5


Hi there
well I actually live in a small village near lutterworth, just off j20 m1, and am approximately the same distance away ( 0.9m)

we rarely hear the motorway at all - it is only if the wind is coming towards us that you hear the traffic - but even then tbh you have to stop and actually "listen" for it.
We are currently on the move ( hopefully 2 wks) but I certainly wouldn't let it put you off buying
Lutterworth & surrounding areas are a lovely place to live

not my house your buying is it?? lol

Thanks for your reply, very re-assuring especially regards to Lutterworth itself and surrounding area.
Have just heard that our offer has been accepted so Lutterworth here we come.

Thank you to all others that have responded, all very helpful.

babyharry5

Roy
I am sure you will be very happy - congrats on your offer being accepted. It really is a lovely place to live with lots of small villages - lovely country pubs - gardens etc

we are only moving for hubbys work and will truely miss the place:(

delmar39

Yep agree with all of the above. We used to live about the same distance away from the A46 dual carriageway. The noise can actually be very loud if the wind is blowing the noise your way, esp after rain. Also, we had a building behind us that acted as an amplifier. We didn't seem to notice the noise at first, but there wasn't a day when we couldn't hear it. Obviously some days it was louder than others. Since we've moved away from the busy road, we notice how quiet it is.

Cannon_Fodder

I don't think you can generalise that certain distances are 'safe' from noise.

It depends on the topography/obstructions to noise, 'line of sight' to a particular house.

My parents had a place 3 miles from a dual-carriageway, that was noisier than if you got within 0.5 mile, because of the lay of the land.

Pretty sure this is not the scientific explanation (!), but it is as though the noise bounces off the atmosphere or something, so that nearer properties are largely protected by the cutting/earth berms/acoustic barriers/planting etc, while beyond 0.5 mile is worse for a distance which depends on the other properties/contours/noises generated etc...

You really have to test it out fully for yourself.

On the "re-sale impact" point, it would be a factor in my search for property, but that's me being picky. How many others are picky...?

not_loaded

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

I don't think you can generalise that certain distances are 'safe' from noise. It depends on the topography/obstructions to noise, 'line of sight' to a particular house.

I totally agree.

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

…You really have to test it out fully for yourself.
On the "re-sale impact" point, it would be a factor in my search for property, but that's me being picky. How many others are picky...?

I’m picky in the sense that for me, quiet is preferable to noisy.

Let’s be clear that 200m is close enough to see if it’s an Eddie Stobart or a Norbert Dentressangle truck. The suggestion here is that you can’t hear trucks trundling along all day at that distance? And that’s ‘quiet’? 400 to 500m is only twice that.

I fully realise the effect of cuttings, houses, barriers etc in between, as we have all of those around here, including so-called ‘sound barrier’ fencing. We walk a lot round here and the noise varies with the terrain mainly. On directly approaching the sound-barriered motorway, 200m is noisy, and at 100m you can’t converse without shouting. Needless to say, most of our walking is away from the motorway area.

We are 0.4 miles away (650m) as the crow flies, but the lie of the land, plus trees and property, kills the noise completely regardless of wind direction. Just a few minutes walk however changes things significantly, so a buyer does well to be aware of these matters.

I’d be interested to know what motorways people are talking about, that are SO quiet. For clarification, my comments are based on the M3, J3 to J4a.

Doozergirl wrote: »

My house is also about 200 metres from the motorway but you genuinely wouldn't appreciate that. I don't think there's any need to undermine someone who lives near to one. Sound barriers, other housing and the prevailing wind make a big difference to what people hear.

I’m not trying to ‘undermine’ here, just commenting from my perspective and experience. So apparently difficulty in selling a property on, doesn’t matter? OP clearly has uncertainties about buying, hence the post.

At the end of the day I’d have thought peace and quiet beats noise any day. Maybe not?

poppysarah

I'm fairly close to the m60 and sometimes it sounds like the sea!
Sadly it's not though.

Also more dirt my neighbour reckons on the washing hung out.