Environmental Assessment
Volume B-5.5
Mine
Traffic
Ambatovy Project
390
January 2006
It is recognized that the project may have several impacts relating to traffic,
including:
•
Increased disturbance due to dust, noise, vibrations and emissions to
populations along the roadside, with a stronger impact along unpaved
roads.
•
Increased traffic flows and any increases in speed associated with
improvements to roads made in relation to the project imply an increase
in accidents, to both people and to their animals.
•
Traffic accidents involving transport of industrial goods risk
contamination of land and water resources from spills.
•
Any road construction or improvement will cause temporary delays to
non-project traffic.
•
Increased traffic flows can imply increased congestion, specifically in
the town of Moramanga, which already sees a significant amount of
congestion as a result of the combination of transport traffic on urban
streets that also have many pedestrians, bicycle riders, pousse-pousses
(rickshaws), and animals.
•
While unlikely to occur along RN2, significantly increased traffic on
RN44 may contribute to project-induced migration of population to the
Moramanga area, specifically to the road sides.
There is no Key Question addressed in this section. While changes in traffic are
described, the implications and impacts of changes in traffic are assessed in the
socioeconomic section (Volume B, Section 5.1).
5.5.5
Changes in Traffic
5.5.5.1 Assessment Methods
The effects of traffic are assessed quantitatively for traffic volume and traffic
accident rates, based on the extrapolation of existing baseline information. The
approximate number of vehicles required for project operation is known and is
used to calculate proportional effects in comparison to baseline conditions.
The effects of traffic on health, safety, vibration, noise and congestion in towns
are assessed qualitatively.
