A reassessment of light rail transit noise impact based on current conditions using Federal Transit Administration guidelines

A noise impact assessment was carried out in 1991 for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) South Oak Cliff (SOC) light rail transit (LRT) Blue Line along Lancaster Road in Dallas, TX in accordance with guidelines that were applicable at the time. This assessment did not account for noise from audible warning devices (AWD) and did not identify noise impact. However, in response to the high frequency of collisions along this corridor after the Blue Line went into operation, train operators were required to sound the horn at each at-grade crossing along the Lancaster corridor. Due to noise complaints resulting from this rule modification, the Dallas City Council requested noise mitigation for a residential area along Lancaster Road. In response, DART conducted a reassessment of noise impact based on existing train operating conditions using current U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) guidelines. The reassessment was based on measurements of existing noise conditions in the study area and measurements of AWD noise from a DART light rail vehicle (LRV). Comparing estimates of noise exposure from current LRT operations with estimates of background noise exposure from traffic on Lancaster Road, noise impacts were identified using FTA criteria and mitigation measures were investigated.