The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has analyzed the noise levels of 12,360 km of major road axes to determine where to establish measures that allow mitigating noise pollution and improving the quality of life of populations. Thus, it has approved the public information file and finally Phase 4 of the Strategic Noise Maps (MER) of the State Road Network (RCE).
The corresponding announcement has been published in the Official State Gazette, while all associated technical documentation can be consulted on the website of the Noise Pollution Information System.
Thanks to these maps, it will be possible to determine the locations where measures can be established to mitigate noise pollution in populations that intersect the analyzed major road axes, such as the installation of noise barriers or the implementation of sound-absorbing asphalt.
These strategic noise maps are drawn up periodically in compliance with European and Spanish regulations on the matter, which require, in the case of roads, that they be carried out on noise on those roads that exceed a traffic of 3 million vehicles per year.
This fourth phase in the development of the MER continues the work done in previous phases. Phase 1, which corresponded to the elaboration of the strategic noise mapping of all major road axes whose traffic, exceptionally, exceeded 6,000,000 veh./year, was finally approved in December 2008. Phase 2, which corresponded to all major road axes with an annual traffic exceeding 3,000,000 vehicles, and its final approval was in September 2016.
Subsequently, the development of the MER of phases 3 (2017) and 4 (2022) has been jointly undertaken. In the context of these works and with a view to the review schedule, priority has been given to the elaboration of the MER of Phase 4 as it is a mapping linked to a more updated scenario of the acoustic situation in the surroundings of the road network. The work has been divided into:
– The MER related to the major road axes of the RCE without tolls to the user as of December 2021, the subject of this final approval.
– The MER related to the major road axes of the RCE with tolls at that date, the subject of a next approval.
In this Phase 4, studies have been carried out for the strategic noise mapping of the major road axes with more than 3 million vehicles per year, which involves the analysis of 12,360 km of RCE, of which 11,405 km correspond to toll-free roads.
The Ministry has enabled a section on its website on Environmental Noise Management in the RCE, making available to the public all information regarding the actions it is undertaking in terms of noise assessment and correction, which in recent years have been largely financed through European funds NextGenerationEU through the Recovery Transformation and Resilience Plan, which includes investments of up to 302 million euros in sustainability, energy efficiency, and action against noise in the RCE.
via: MiMub in Spanish
