Mayors want a special type of asphalt to help noise-affected motorway residents.

Cars roar along the highways. It’s noisy, and thousands of Danes live with the disturbance.

Now, the Danish Road Directorate has conducted a trial at four different locations across the country, demonstrating that a special type of pavement—so-called drainage asphalt—can address the issue.

According to the evaluation, there is a **"significant noise-reducing effect."**

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**Facts about the trial**

The Danish Road Directorate carried out the trial on three short sections of approximately 500 meters each near Kliplev, Randers, and Køge, as well as on a longer stretch of six kilometers on Motorring 3 between Rødovre and Brøndby.

Source: Evaluation of drainage asphalt, Danish Road Directorate

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**"It’s a great solution and a good idea,"** says Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen (V).

That noise from state roads is a major nuisance is something many mayors across the country can agree on. They also hope that the state will now roll out this special asphalt in more locations.

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**"Perfect and a sensible solution"**

This is particularly relevant in Nyborg, where the Fyn Motorway splits the city in two, causing disruption for many people traveling to and from the Great Belt Bridge.

**"We can’t move the motorway, and the city is where it is. So it’s a perfect stretch to use this type of asphalt,"** says Mayor Kenneth Muhs (V).

The state has recently allocated a large sum for noise barriers in Nyborg, but that doesn’t diminish the desire for this special asphalt.

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**Facts about traffic noise**

117,000 homes along Danish state roads are exposed to noise levels exceeding authorities’ advisory limits.

Most motorways are state roads.

Source: Noise Action Plan for State Roads, Danish Road Directorate

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**"Everything we can do to reduce this burdensome noise is an important effort, and we will continue with it,"** says Nyborg’s mayor.

In Aabenraa, the benefits of drainage asphalt are also evident.

Here, the mayor notes that noise from state roads limits where new homes can be built. If the noise is reduced, it will provide the municipality with more options.

**"Where state roads run through our cities, this would be a really good solution,"** says Mayor Jan Riber Jakobsen (K) about the special asphalt.

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**"Now we need to get started"**

Most of the drainage asphalt trial was conducted on a section of Motorring 3, one of the busiest highways in the country, winding through several municipalities west of Copenhagen.

Approximately 29,000 homes along Motorring 3 are affected by noise, according to the latest assessment, so many mayors would like to see the trial expanded.

**"It would make a big difference for residents living nearby. I really hope that happens,"** says Gentofte’s mayor, Michael Fenger (K).

Currently, the special asphalt is used between Rødovre and Brøndby on a six-kilometer stretch in the southbound direction.

**"I think drainage asphalt should be used on all roads where speeds exceed 50 kilometers per hour, especially in densely populated areas,"** says Maja Højgaard (S), mayor of Brøndby.

It is the politicians in the Folketing’s consensus committee behind the current infrastructure agreement who must decide what happens next, now that the evaluation of the drainage asphalt trial is complete.

**"I’m incredibly encouraged by the positive results the trial shows. Now we need to move forward. I hope they understand this at Christiansborg. It’s what residents in some of the noisiest areas in the country deserve,"** says Serdal Benli (SF), mayor of Gladsaxe.

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**Strong political interest**

The Danish Road Directorate estimates that traffic noise can be reduced by an average of **four decibels** when using drainage asphalt compared to the type currently in use.

**"This is a significant reduction—something that really matters,"** says Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen (V).

However, he notes that it has only been about a year and a half since the drainage asphalt was first implemented.

**"We don’t yet know how it performs after five or ten years. But we do know it’s a significantly more expensive product that needs to be replaced more frequently,"** says Thomas Danielsen.

Negotiations in the consensus committee are underway, and according to the transport minister, there is **very strong political interest** in further examining this special asphalt. He himself would like to see it rolled out as a large-scale project.

**"I will present this to the Folketing’s consensus committee, and I hope and believe there will be broad support for it."**

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.