Last year the media pointed to a very costly construction of sound barriers. In some cases they protected only fields or industrial areas. Also the construction of crossings for animals sparked interest of the public opinion. The crossings were numerous and as expensive as noise barriers. Besides, their installation sites were not always properly chosen. Today it is clear that some of them were not even once used by animals. NIK decided to check if the investments on A2 motorway had been made in line with the law and with respect for public money.
Marian Cichosz on noise barriers on A2 motorway
Noise barriers
The experts panel organised by NIK was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Environment, General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (investor of the audited A2 motorway section), expert design companies and ecological organisations. ”Some people have already passed their sentences in that matter but we want to start the audit without making any initial theses” - Marian Cichosz, Vice-President of NIK declared at the meeting with experts.
The major criticism was directed against the Ministry of Environment which eased the acceptable noise standards only in October 2012, that is already after the end of the investment boom related to Euro 2012. According to Lech Witecki, acting General Director for National Roads and Motorways, the change translated into the reduction of costs of building following road sections. ”From the economic viewpoint the liberalisation requested by us proved very profitable. The costs of building sound barriers in Poland went down from 15 to 40 percent.
On the other hand, Wojciech Szymalski, PhD, President of the Management Board of ”Zielone Mazowsze” [Green Mazovia Association], pointed to negative effects of easing norms by the Ministry of Environment. In his opinion, the change of provisions will harm mainly the cities where entire housing estates may be left without noise protection. ”For instance, this is what will happen to Wołoska Street in Warsaw where the installation of noise barriers had been planned before changing norms and now it has been suspended” - Szymalski explained.
Witold Jaszczuk, representative of the Anti-Noise League also protested against changes in standards. He believes that such advanced liberalisation has no precedent anywhere in Europe. ”Today in Poland it would be better to build a house near the fence around an airport than near a road as the standards are stricter in this case” - he explained. And he noted that lowering the costs of road construction, which is possible due to the reduction of the number of sound barriers, may result in higher costs in the construction industry. ”The noise that’s not blocked near the road will have to be blocked by properly isolated wall of a house.”
Małgorzata Wojciechowska representing the Minister of Environment stressed that the provision under which the biggest part of A2 motorway was covered with noise barriers did not require that fields, supermarkets or industrial areas be protected against noise. Additionally, there was no need to place sound barriers on the areas only earmarked for development. ”Houses on these areas may be completed only after 10 years. I wonder what state the existing noise barriers will be in then” - Wojciechowska wondered.
”It’s obvious that you don’t place noise barriers on an empty field” - agreed Wojciech Malusi, President of the Management Board of the All-Polish Economic Chamber of Road-Building. ”For example, in Germany there is the so-called acoustic map. The number of inhabitants of a given area determines the number of noise barriers there.”
The planned audit of NIK will cover the process of designing and building sound barriers as well as animal crossings. It will start from the environmental impact analysis of the investment and construction projects and end up with post-completion and handover documentation. The decision-making process will be reviewed as regards responding to economically and legally justified proposals of legal changes in terms of environment protection against noise. NIK will also have a closer look at how the provision which was effective during the investment boom in Poland had originated. The inspectors will also check if the law at that time really forced the construction of that many sound barriers on A2 motorway.
The audit will be conducted in the second and third quarters of 2013. The pronouncement on the audit results should be ready by the end of November 2013.
