Abstract：
Noise barriers are path interventions between noise sources and human receivers used mainly along road corridors to improve the acoustic environment for affected residents. Despite their widespread use, the impact of these interventions on community perception is still insufficiently investigated. This paper presents findings from a longitudinal study evaluating the efficacy of noise barriers in three residential areas alongside highways, compared to a reference case in a relatively quiet area. Noise exposure was objectively quantified via acoustic measurements and noise modelling, while socio-acoustic surveys measured the residents\' subjective response in terms of noise annoyance as well as other aspects of quality of life. While noise exposure (Lday) decreased on average by 4.4-11.7 dBA at near-barrier points, direct reductions in pre to post-intervention noise annoyance were observed only in one case. Additionally, only in this particular case were the appraisals of the acoustic environment restored to a condition similar to low-level noise emissions (reference case). Contextual factors potentially downgrading the interventions\' effectiveness are discussed, such as the history of complaints and coping, mistrust towards road authorities, high expectations, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. While noise exposure reductions did not directly lead to noise annoyance decreases, an ordinal regression pooling all cases revealed that larger reductions in noise exposure were associated with a higher likelihood of residents reporting decreased traffic noise annoyance in the post-survey. No evidence was found regarding noise barriers\' impact on the subjective assessment of other aspects of quality of life, such as health complaints, concentration disturbance, and sleep quality.
摘要：
噪声屏障是噪声源和人类接收器之间的路径干预措施，主要用于道路走廊，以改善受影响居民的声环境。尽管它们广泛使用，这些干预措施对社区感知的影响仍未得到充分调查.本文介绍了一项纵向研究的结果，该研究评估了高速公路旁三个居民区的隔音屏障的功效，与相对安静区域的参考案例相比。通过声学测量和噪声建模对噪声暴露进行客观量化，而社会声学调查则测量了居民在噪音烦恼以及生活质量其他方面的主观反应。虽然噪声暴露(Lday)在近屏障点平均下降4.4-11.7dBA，仅在一种情况下观察到干预前后噪音烦恼的直接减少。此外,只有在这种特殊情况下，对声环境的评估才恢复到类似于低水平噪声排放的状态（参考案例）。讨论了可能降低干预效果的背景因素，比如投诉和应对的历史，对道路当局的不信任，高期望,以及COVID-19大流行的影响。虽然噪声暴露的减少并没有直接导致噪声烦恼的减少，对所有病例进行序数回归分析后发现,噪声暴露量的降低幅度越大,居民在调查后报告交通噪声烦恼度降低的可能性越高.没有发现关于隔音屏障对生活质量其他方面的主观评估的影响的证据，如健康投诉，浓度扰动,和睡眠质量。
