Evaluation of road traffic noise in terms of acoustic comfort on sidewalks at ring road of Konya-Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Walking is an activity that can be easily done by many people in urban spaces even in short periods. The most common areas of walking in urban spaces are the sidewalks. In order for pedestrians to travel comfortably in these areas, acoustic comfort should be fulfilled. This study aims to seek an answer to the question of “Can accurate results be obtained by using an alternative method which is more efficient in terms of time, energy, and cost, in noise measurement studies?”. In this study, minimum and maximum noise measurements were made in three different time periods during the day on a part of D300 ring road in Selçuklu district, Konya province, Turkey. The obtained data were subjected to reliability analysis, unreliable data according to Cronbach's Alpha coefficient were not included in the calculations. The reliable data were evaluated in terms of compliance status according to the “Assessment and Management Regulations of Environmental Noise”. As a result of this study, it was determined that even the recorded minimum noise values have a very high potential in terms of exceeding the limit values stated in the related regulations. The results of this study showed that more efficient results can be obtained in terms of time, energy, and cost by the way of short-term (momentary) measurements, compared to the long-term (time-weighted) noise measurements.