Buying Near Proposed New Road

pcwep8

Hi Everyone,
I'm interested to see peoples views on this and I know similar questions have been posted previously. I've recently had an offer accepted on a house that ticks all the boxes for us and is at the top end of our budget. The house has allotments at the rear, a bank of trees and then a country park. It's came to my attention in the last week that Highways England are potentially going to build a dual carriageway, mainly/wholly for use by HGV's travelling to and from the docks right through the centre of the park in Sefton, Merseyside. Looking on Google Earth the road will be about 300-350 yards distance from my back yard. I know the potential noise and pollution will be big factors with the negatives of moving here. Would it be something that would put you off moving here or not, and has anyone else been in a similar situatuion?
Many thanks
Paul

NinjaTune

That would seriously put me off to be honest.  Unlike 'normal' road traffic that peaks at commuter travel times, I would imagine that the HGVs will be 24/7 going to the docks.

Not so much a problem during winter when you're indoors with the windows closed but summer months are likely to be a nightmare.

davidmcn

300 yards isn't all that close, especially if there's something cushioning the noise. I used to live about half that distance from a motorway, and that was a relatively distant roar, it's not as if you're likely to hear every squeak and rattle from the trucks.

NinjaTune

davidmcn said:

300 yards isn't all that close, especially if there's something cushioning the noise. I used to live about half that distance from a motorway, and that was a relatively distant roar, it's not as if you're likely to hear every squeak and rattle from the trucks.

I live further away from that from a dual carriageway and it's pretty irritating on a summers evening.

Maybe that's because I have acute hearing or we don't have the same cushioning for noise (possibly both).  Either way it would put me off living near a relatively busy road again.

AdrianC

Do you mean this project?
https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/north-west/a5036-port-of-liverpool-access/
https://assets.highwaysengland.co.uk/roads/road-projects/A5036+-+Port+of+Liverpool+Access/A5036+Port+of+Liverpool+Public+Information+Exhibition+Panels.pdf

If so, work was due to start this spring, and the project itself has been public knowledge since at least 2015, with the route announced in 2017. I would strongly suspect that the inconvenience and knock-on effects are already priced-in to the property, in the same was as properties close to HS2.

pcwep8

Thanks for your replies. Yes that's the project, due to start in 2022 now. I think the houses at the front of the park with no buffer have already been priced to factor this in. The one were potentially moving to is set a bit further back but still with no other houses between it and the park, just allotments and trees.

pcwep8

NinjaTune said:

davidmcn said:

300 yards isn't all that close, especially if there's something cushioning the noise. I used to live about half that distance from a motorway, and that was a relatively distant roar, it's not as if you're likely to hear every squeak and rattle from the trucks.

I live further away from that from a dual carriageway and it's pretty irritating on a summers evening.

Maybe that's because I have acute hearing or we don't have the same cushioning for noise (possibly both).  Either way it would put me off living near a relatively busy road again.

Was there any buffer inbetween your house and the dual carriageway i.e houses or trees?

pcwep8

Here is where the house is and where the dual carriageway is planned for down the centre path. I know it's difficult to tell until it's built but does anyone think given the distance that it would devalue massively?

davidmcn

pcwep8 said:

Here is where the house is and where the dual carriageway is planned for down the centre path. I know it's difficult to tell until it's built but does anyone think given the distance that it would devalue massively?

I doubt it will matter in the slightest.

pcwep8

My worry is there being no houses inbetween. There's just allotments and 2 banks of trees.

Davesnave

pcwep8 said:

My worry is there being no houses in between. There's just allotments and 2 banks of trees.

Topography and buildings make a huge difference. We used to live within 200m as the crow flies from a major through route, yet we could rarely hear it unless an ambulance siren or similar was being used. The shape of the land and hundreds of houses seemed to be the factors which made our area so quiet, confirmed by a noise mapping app I used.

When we moved to a rental in a tree lined street 600m from the same road across a park, we were amazed that we could hear it clearly, though at that distance it was not deemed by others to be obtrusive noise.