would you buy a property on a busy road?

[supercalifragilicious]

It is literally our dream house, but the major downside is that it is located on a busy-ish road - not terrible, but more busy than I'd normally be comfortable with. There is only one lane each way, but it is a drive through road that many people use to get from one point to another quickly, without having to bump about on humps in quiet residential roads. There is also a bus passing through - only one line.
The windows of the lounge and one of the bedrooms would be on the road's side.
Generally, there's plenty of greenery in the area, but not immediately adjacent to the house.
I am not sure as this would be a long-term purchase and I am worried about long-term effects of pollution on DCs health. What would you do?

Same. I was lucky to escape my main road house due to leaving my EXDP. When I go past the house now, I literally exhale a sigh of relief.

Busy means different things to different people. Are we talking a constant stream of traffic or a few cars a minute? Or less? I would and have lived in a street where the traffic was a car every minute or two. I wouldn’t live on a 40mph bypass/constant stream of traffic road.

Our current house is on a main through road and I'd never do it again. We have a nice big front drive that takes 3-4 cars but it's a pain in the backside trying to get out because the traffic never stops for you. Also we have a bus stop right outside and the number of times I've jumped in the car to go out and a bloody bus pulls up at that moment! Sometimes they just sit there making up time because they're a bit early and I have to eventually beep them to get them to move.

on bin day the refuse people just discard your bins blocking your drive (even though we put them out the other side of the front wall out of the way) and if you come back to find the drive blocked it's a pain again because you have to park up, move the bins and then manoeuvre in.

We lived on a fairly busy B road and it was fine. We hadn't realised the weekday traffic level as we moved from out of the area and only viewed at a weekend. Weekday traffic was much higher due to nearby schools and shops.

We were set some way back (maybe 25m) and it really didn't bother us at all. Some neighbours had hedges that probably helped with pollution and noise. The only downside was that when we got cats they had to be indoor as I couldn't face finding one flattened.

We moved last year and had lots of viewers and several offers so the road clearly didn't put people off.

I wouldn't simply because we had 2 homes on main roads and the noise bothered us. One in particular was terrible when it rained. Traffic slowed down and noise went up.
However, we moved a few years ago and now have the sound of a housing estate being built 10 hours a day, 6 days a week!

ps we had no trouble at all reselling which had worried me. Obviously depends on the market but we had 3 offers on the first day. This is a very busy road on a main commuter route. Traffic often actually backed up past the house which was set back from the road but not hugely.

I mean I did buy a house on a main road.

I was really worried when I moved in - I had previously lived on a road which was barred to motor vehicles, another where I slept at the back of the house and it was triple glazed and a third where I was in completely the middle of nowhere. I thought I would never get used to it, but otherwise I couldn't really afford a house and I was prepared to compromise on that instead of a flat.

6 years down the line and I don't notice the noise with the windows closed. I got the house painted a pale blue with just a little grey in it, which means you don't notice the dirt really. The windows do need washing more often than they otherwise would. I don't find I hear the noise in the back garden except when a lorry goes past which isn't regularly.

I think I made the right compromises for me, it depends what is a priority for you.

No I wouldn't, but we have cats so I'd be far more worried for that reason than any other.

Having said that, we live at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and I never placed much value on that until we had kids. I love the fact they were able to learn to ride their bikes in the street and can scoot/roller skate/bike out there now.

I live on a very busy road and it’s fine. We put noise reducing glass in the windows at the front of the house so the noise is muted. In the evenings it’s not that noisy. I quite like living on a main road as you’re less likely to be broken into! I have cats but we’re in the middle of a terrace so they only go out the back where there is no road. I used to have the Eurostar at the bottom of my garden so the current road is an improvement.

We live on a busy road, it doesn't bother us at all.
The house is fairly set back and higher than road level.
The only slightly annoying thing is that the front windows get more dirty/dusty than they would in quieter areas.
We don't even really notice the noise anymore.

I live on a fairly busy route into our town (I'm 50m from the centre). We're a good 12-15 metres away from the road and hear nothing! We do have trees behind us and our living area is all at the back of the property (strange shape, converted bungalow with living spaces near to front and all bedrooms and snug/garden room to back) I'd not realise there was a main ish road there.
BUT make sure you visit the house at busy times and assess the noise as it's different for different houses and roads

We live on a busy road. We are set back and not at road.level (we have steps up to our front door as on a steep hill). Another thing that makes it easier is that we can turn round in our driveway so always go out forwards.

It is a compromise I would make again because the house is perfect. It was significantly cheaper than the next closest fit. Kids can't play out which is a shame but when I was a kid we lived in a cul de sac and still couldn't play out due to the neighbours' at the head of the cul de sac driving down it so fast and erratically.

Sounds like my road except for the bus, although we are really quite far back, raised up as built against a hill and lots of big hedges. I don’t mind it but only because it’s very very quiet after about 8 or 9 and starts up again about 7 a.m and there are no lorries as the road leads to a narrow Lane where they couldn’t get through. I think Lorries would be a dealbreaker for me.

I’m considering he same noise didn’t bother me first few years but now does and seems more traffics considering a move to a quieter countryside location

No, but we have kids and cats so we've not bothered even looking at properties on busy roads. You buy the area as well as the house.