Environmental Assessment
Volume B-5.5
Mine
Traffic
Ambatovy Project
391
January 2006
5.5.5.2 Results
Traffic impacts will occur throughout the construction and operations phases of
the project. Construction phase effects are often more extreme, as there is
movement of equipment and construction materials to the site, construction
workforces are generally larger than operational workforces, and construction
itself – either to improve roads or to improve associated facilities along roads –
can impede traffic flow.
Traffic Volumes
Changes in traffic volumes due to the project are based on estimates of the
number of personal vehicles, supply trucks and buses (transporting workers) that
will be required on a daily basis for the project to operate. The number of
vehicles required is summarized for construction and operation phases of the
project and for each main road segment in Table 5.5-2. These numbers represent
a relatively small fraction of existing baseline traffic provided in Table 5.5-1.
Table 5.5-2 Vehicle Numbers per Day
(a)
Project Phase
Vehicle
Types
RN2, Moramanga-
Toamasina
RN2, Moramanga-
Antananarivo
RN44, Ampitambe-
Moramanga
cars
0
0
10
trucks
16
2
18
buses
0
0
7
construction (3 years)
(number of round trips per
day)
total
16
2
35
cars
0
0
10
trucks
4
1
5
buses
0
0
8 / 4
(b)
operations (27 years)
(number of round trips per
day)
total
4
1
23 / 19
(b)
(a)
Traffic numbers are estimates based on project description as of May, 2005.
(b)
Weekday / weekend numbers.
The greatest impacts of the project in relation to traffic volumes will occur during
the construction phase, especially along RN44 between Ampitambe and
Moramanga. Numbers of trucks along the route will increase about 6% during
construction and 2% during operations. Numbers of personal vehicles will
increase by about 3% during both construction and operations. Numbers of
buses will increase by an average of 4% during construction and operations,
although the buses to be used will be larger than the types commonly seen in
Moramanga under baseline conditions. Because of economic effects of the
project, additional traffic may result from the development of other businesses
