Rumble Strip Noise Evaluation

Status: Complete
Report Date: 02/18/2015

Summary:

In response to landowner complaints about noise from rumble strips, researchers analyzed the volume and tone of the sounds produced when vehicles drove over three different rumble strip designs. California's wave-shaped design produced less external noise than MnDOT's current design, and generated tones that are likely to be less abrupt in a rural environment, while producing an adequate amount of sound inside a vehicle to alert drivers.

Final Deliverables:

Rumble Strip Noise Evaluation (Report #2015-07)
Wave-Shaped Rumble Strips Reduce Nuisance Noise (Research Summary)

Related Materials:

Roads & Bridges: Rural Road Safety Research in Minnesota (News/Publication Article)
Roads & Bridges: Rural Road Safety Research in Minnesota (News/Publication Article)
Rumble Strips vs. Mumble Strips: Noise Comparison (Blog Post)
MnDOT looks for solution to noisy highway rumble strips (Blog Post)
Rumble Strips: Noise Difference from Traditional vs. Sinusoidal Designs (Video/Webinar)
Future will be quieter for Minnesota rumble strips (News/Publication Article)
Future will be quieter for Minnesota rumble strips (News/Publication Article)
Minnesota: Are You Ready to Mumble? (Blog Post)
Audio files to accompany Report #2015-07 (.zip) (Other)
Rumble strips are compared to mumble strips (News/Publication Article)

Related Research:

Project Personnel:

Principal Investigator: Edward Terhaar
Co-Principal Investigator: David Braslau
Technical Liaison: Mark Vizecky
Project Coordinator: Alan Rindels
Panel Members:
Lyndon Robjent - Carver County
Rich Sanders - Polk County