Living on a busy road, is it a problem?

gingercordial

I also find irregularly-used roads more annoying for noise.

I've lived on many very busy roads (A roads through London which are major bus routes) and you just tune it out. I liked knowing that when walking home in the dark there was always traffic about and therefore I felt less likely to be "jumped" by someone lurking in the shadows.

Our current road is a very quiet cul de sac off one of those big A roads and so there is almost no traffic. Then occasionally someone races a motorbike down it (it is quite long) and it's really irritating. I have become quite the curtain twitcher when a car or van comes down because it's so noticeable. The air quality is much better though!

People with kids or pets would be more worried about them running out onto a busy road; if you're looking for a lodger for one room that isn't going to be an issue for them but will you want either of those things and do you want to still be living in this house if/when you do?

Smodlet

It really is an individual thing. Personally, I loathe busy roads and the only kind of street I would choose to live on are those at least three away from a bus route, preferably very short and, ideally, dead ends or cul-de-sacs. Tigger safety used to be the primary concern; sadly for us, that is no longer the case but it does not alter my opinion.

I guess, if you buy on a busy road, you will not appeal to my... Demographic?

Good luck, anyway.

lookstraightahead

I moved from a busy main road. I became paranoid and ill from it. The house rattled, traffic sped all through the night, trucks and huge lorries were often diverted onto it, the house rattled and I had to use a fan on full speed in a back bedroom with double glazing. I wouldn't ever contemplate living on anything remotely like a main road ever again. Wound rather live in a tent.

comedyseeker123

Yeah I think that my gut instinct is reasonable. There is a bus stop close to the house.

Grezz24

My wife and I lived next to a busy road, and when she was pregnant with our first child she had to do a C02 test at the hospital (all pregnant women do this at our hospital). She came back as medium to high, signalling she was a smoker.

We questioned this as she wasn't and never has smoked in her life to which they didn't seem to believe us, but nothing further mentioned.

Fast-forward to our second child and the same result is returned, however this time they asked if we lived by a main road, to which we said yes. They said that they often have higher levels of C02 in pregnant women living on or near main roads.

Thankfully we were in the process of moving when we found this out so feel better for it.

So I personally wouldnt live on a mainroad ever again.

phoebe1989seb

We bought a house on a rural A-road a few years back. It was a three-storey, thatched, [STRIKE]wreck[/STRIKE] period property in an AONB. It had a large garden and drive but fronted directly on to the pavement.

It was also at the bottom of a hill

Every time a tractor, HGV or other large vehicle thundered past - often above the speed limit if going downhill - the house shook from top to bottom. The original single glazed sashes windows let in noise and fumes...and dust! Eventually we had double glazing with acoustic glass fitted, but whilst it mitigated the sound a little, obviously it did nothing to improve the shaking. It really did my head in.

Having spent a fortune restoring and extending the property, we sold after three years. The family that bought it said they'd never have been able to afford it had it not been on the busy road. They loved the place so much they were prepared to put up with the road. Five years on and they're still there......

Never again for us!

hazyjo

comedyseeker123 wrote: »

Yeah I think that my gut instinct is reasonable. There is a bus stop close to the house.

That would put me off, especially if it's a busy stop. Buses are noisy. People are too. Is it near a school? You'll have loads and loads of even more noise if so!

Double deckers or single buses?

If it's a main road, is there also a pub nearby? That would also put me off.

What did you want the cellar for?

comedyseeker123

It next to a pedestrian crossing and no school. No pub either. Nothing in the area really.

Waterlily24

We had a bus stop outside of ours too, great for me as I don't drive but it wasn't a busy one.

phoebe1989seb

Another (city) house we owned had a bus stop outside. It was a double-fronted house with a shallow-ish front garden. The bus route itself wasn't particularly busy - in the five years we were there I barely noticed anyone queueing when I was home, but what was more annoying were the double yellows that stretched the full width of the property as a result. DS was two when we moved in and we had no car then - plus my business was located literally two minutes round the corner - but when we got a car, parking was an utter nightmare, unloading all DS's stuff was a pain too as often there was nowhere to park in the street.......