Effectiveness and External Noise of Transverse Rumble Strip Designs

Chehab, Ghassan R.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114323 Copy

Description

Title

Effectiveness and External Noise of Transverse Rumble Strip Designs

Author(s)

Chehab, Ghassan R.

Issue Date

2022-06

Keyword(s)

• Transverse Rumble Strips
• Noise
• Traffic Safety

Abstract

The report presents a case study motivated by comments and concerns from residents regarding high levels of noise originating from vehicles passing transverse rumble strips at the intersection of US-41 northbound and West Park Avenue in Highland Park, Illinois. The Illinois Department of Transportation seeks to reduce the exterior noise the rumble strips generate without compromising the safety they deliver. A review of the latest literature on the topic and state of practice by other state departments of transportation revealed the absence of an existing standard that mandates specific designs and, thus, lack of consistency among the agencies on a configuration that could be followed. To decide whether changes to the existing design are appropriate, a performance comparison with other candidate designs needs to be conducted. To that end, measurements of exterior noise levels at the rumble strips on US-41 and at the adjacent neighborhood were collected in the presence of continuous flow of traffic. The collected measurements serve as a baseline for comparison with noise emanating from modified or new transverse rumble strip designs that would be investigated for possible implementation in the future. Similar measurements were conducted for interior noise in a vehicle passing over the rumble strips at different speeds to study their effectiveness in alerting drivers of cautions ahead.

Publisher

Illinois Center for Transportation/Illinois Department of Transportation

Series/Report Name or Number

FHWA-ICT-22-009

ISSN

0197-9191

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/114323

DOI

https://doi.org/10.36501/0197-9191/22-009

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

IDOT-R27-SP51-HS

Copyright and License Information

No restrictions. This document is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.

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