ABSTRACT

Environmental considerations are required during the planning of all transportation projects to help ensure that mobility does not occur at the price of damaging our environment. Accordingly, transportation planners, land use planners, transportation engineers, and environmental specialists must consider environmental impacts when planning or designing a transportation project. It is important that these individuals understand

why

environmental planning is necessary,

how

the impact must be analyzed, and

what

must be done to mitigate environmental impacts. Evaluation of impacts requires a systematic, interdisciplinary approach due to the diversity of impacts that may occur. This chapter presents an overview of the environmental process with emphasis on the physical impacts, especially air quality and noise pollution.