Why wasn’t rubberized asphalt applied when the freeways were built? Wouldn’t that have been easier and cheaper?
Until now, barriers – walls and earthen berms – have been the only federally acceptable, and therefore, cost-reimbursable means of reducing freeway traffic noise. After much research, planning and negotiation with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, in 2003 ADOT began a 3-year, $34-million pilot Quiet Roads program, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), to surface about 115 miles of Phoenix-area freeways with rubberized asphalt. This national program is expected to set a new standard for freeway noise reduction and the quality of life for people living near freeways in the U.S. Newly constructed freeway sections in the Valley will now open to traffic with rubberized asphalt overlays.
