ABSTRACT
Transportation is defined as the safe, convenient and accessible movement of people and goods with minimum environmental side effects. In this chapter the focus is the side effects, which, by definition, are always bad. Historically, geometric designers limited their interest to what lay inside the road reserve. Anything outside the road reserve was regarded with indifference except for the view that the environment was an endless supply of road building
CONTENTS
23.1 Introduction ............................................................................... 529 23.2 Ecosystems ................................................................................. 530
23.2.1 Introduction ................................................................... 530 23.2.2 Effects of roads on the environment .............................. 531
23.2.2.1 Wildlife-vehicle collisions .............................. 531 23.2.2.2 Habitat loss ................................................... 531 23.2.2.3 Habitat fragmentation ................................... 531 23.2.2.4 Altered habitat quality .................................. 532
23.2.3 The accommodation of wildlife ..................................... 532 23.3 Pollution ..................................................................................... 533
23.3.1 Introduction ................................................................... 533 23.3.2 Air pollution .................................................................. 533 23.3.3 Water pollution .............................................................. 534 23.3.4 Noise ............................................................................. 534 23.3.5 Visual pollution ............................................................. 535
23.4 Community impacts ................................................................... 535 23.4.1 Introduction ................................................................... 535 23.4.2 Public health .................................................................. 536 23.4.3 Impact on communities .................................................. 536 23.4.4 Damage to community values ........................................ 537 23.4.5 Injuries and death .......................................................... 537
23.5 Environmental impact ................................................................ 538 23.5.1 Introduction ................................................................... 538 23.5.2 Legislation ..................................................................... 538 23.5.3 The legislative requirements for environmental
impact assessments ........................................................ 539 23.5.4 Environmental impact statements .................................. 540
material and that swamps were things that had to be drained if they impacted on the road at all. More recently, designers have come to realise that there is a world beyond the boundary fences, that building materials are a finite resource, which, in many countries, have already been exhausted and that the previous stinking swamps are wetlands to be cherished.
