Environmental Assessment
Volume D-5.5
Process Plant
Traffic
•
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; and
•
increased traffic flows can imply increased congestion, specifically in
the town of Toamasina, 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.
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 sections.
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.
5.5.5.2 Results
The plant site is located to the east of the RN2 as it enters Toamasina. Traffic to
the plant site will flow both along RN2 for a distance of about 6 km as far as the
plant access road (entering the plant site from the west) and along the port-plant
access road to be constructed by the city of Toamasina and the Malagasy State
(Volume D, Sections 1 and 2), about 8 km in length, which will approach the
process plant from the northeast.
The tailings facility will essentially be located across the RN2 from the process
plant, and any traffic impacts specific to the tailings site will be mixed with those
of the plant along RN2 adjacent to Toamasina. Traffic travelling to the tailings
facility from Toamasina will travel along RN2 for a distance of about 4 km.
Traffic impacts will occur throughout the construction and operations phases of
the project. Construction phase effects are often more extreme, as there is
Ambatovy Project
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January 2006
