What is an impacted location?
A. A “noise sensitive receiver” (defined as homes, parks, schools, businesses, etc.) is considered impacted by noise if either the future (generally a 20-year traffic projection) noise levels exceed the State Noise Rules/ FHWA noise abatement criteria, or if there is a substantial increase in future noise levels over existing noise levels from a proposed Mn/DOT project as described above. These are the noise levels that are experienced at commonly used exterior portions of the property. Table 1 lists Minnesota’s noise level standards. Table 2 lists the FHWA’s noise abatement criteria.
