Analysis of Proponent Mitigated Development Plans for Traffic Noise

Abstract

Proponent mitigated development (PMD) strategies are used in the planning stages of new development to bring about compatibility between noise sensitive land uses and transportation noise. Development can be a transportation project initiated by a transportation agency or it can be a noise sensitive land use initiated by a private developer. In either case, the proponent of the development bears the responsibility for mitigation of transportation noise to bring about noise and land use compatibility. Noise and land use compatibility programs that make use of proponent mitigated development strategies were studied to identify critical program elements, measures of effectiveness, and the steps to be taken for program implementation. It was found that proponent mitigated development strategies can be an effective complement to land use zoning in traffic noise and land use compatibility programs. Further, administrators of existing programs report minimal maintenance costs to planning agencies, and suggest that these programs promote a fair distribution of noise abatement costs.