Abstract
M.Sc.
The Strubensvalley area is an up market area with numerous shopping centres
and trendy dwellings. A major road, namely Hendrik Potgieter Road (M47),
feeding between Johannesburg and North West/Botswana, runs through the
suburb. Residents of Strubensvalley are in their concern about this road: the
noise pollution which impacts negatively on their lives.
This research investigates the traffic noise and the impact it has on the
population of Strubensvalley.The selected study area was delimited by drawing a
circle with a radius of four kilometers around the middle point, it being at the
intersection of Hendrik Potgieter Road and Krugerrand Road. Clearwater Mall
and Wilgeheuwel Retail Crossing shopping centre are the two large features on
the circumference of the study area.
A calibrated sound level meter was used to measure the traffic noise at 18
different measuring points within the study area. Measurements were taken
during the day (6am to 10pm) and at night (10pm-6am) in order to establish the
noise impact caused by the peak flow and non-peak flow of traffic in the suburb.
A 30-item noise -health-related questionnaire was used to establish the impact of
traffic noise on the respondents. A hundred randomly -chosen participants within
the study area were interviewed on a door-to-door basis. On completion of this
research, it was established that the people interviewed were generally annoyed
by the traffic noise in Hendrik Potgieter Road. The majority of the participants
complained about the annoyance and interference factor caused by traffic noise
in that it affected them in activities (e.g. napping during the day).