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Original poster

House on dual carriageway - it's a no, right?

118 replies

A90neighbour · 31/05/2023 16:03

I really like the look of this house (some redecoration aside) and it's a good amount of space for the money.

But it's right on a busy dual carriageway. Traffic goes at 70mph along it and there are accidents pretty regularly due to a lot of the junctions not having flyovers (so people have to cross lanes and/or slow right down to turn on and off).

So it's not just the traffic noise and pollution but also the danger of getting to/from the house!

I need to discount it don't I? Or is it worth a look?

Listing here https://www.tspc.co.uk/4-Bed-Detached-Villa-For-Sale-Blouberg-Tealing-DD4-0QU

Google view of road should be attached.

House on dual carriageway - it's a no, right?
OP posts:
Coronationstation · 31/05/2023 17:31

walk not work!!

mondaytosunday · 31/05/2023 17:38

No no no no no

Therandomtrekker · 31/05/2023 17:40

Just remember we are all meant to be getting electric cars ?!?!so it may sound quieter in the future

angelopal · 31/05/2023 17:41

How much room is there to park? Where would visitors park?

IglesiasPiggl · 31/05/2023 17:46

I would worry about the resale process. Even if you're prepared to deal with the downsides lots of people aren't so a much smaller pool of potential buyers.

fdgdfgdfgdfg · 31/05/2023 17:48

We're a couple of streets away from a dual carriageway and we can hear it constantly. The day time noise isn't so bad because it's steady, but it's at night when it's a bit quieter, suddenly you get a boy racer go past and you really notice it.

Littleroseseverywhere · 31/05/2023 17:53

It’s a major no from me, as I did buy on a busy a road, as I got more house for my money, so the road was not as bad as the one you linked and traffic max at 30m a hour and if I can avoid it, then never again.

You can’t open the windows in summer due to the noise, the pollution is horrific and your curtains/blinds are constantly dirty and black with it, your back patio needs power washing on the regular as it goes black and sooty , and don’t get me started in Emergsncy vehicles, lorries etc and the noise. Then there is the trying to get out through the traffic or if there is an accident and irs backed up .

go pull onto the side of any dual carriage way, pull up a seat and sit there and see how much you love it. You won’t. Defo. No from me.

letmedoittoo · 31/05/2023 17:53

If it's half the price of something the same that's not on a dual carriageway then maybe, but otherwise ...

weareallout · 31/05/2023 17:53

Too hard to sell again.
Noisy in garden.
Need a car to leave house.
Easy target for burglary as quick get away

VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji · 31/05/2023 18:11

The accident thing is a fair point.
weve had a number of deaths outside. I’m the official police tea maker, bin bag provider and water bucket supplier.

TwigTheWonderKid · 31/05/2023 18:50

I think you probably could get used to the traffic noise as I guess the speed is fairly constant. But pollution is an awful thing for health and there is no way I'd willingly live on that road. Also, I:d be constantly worried about children and/ or pets being run over. I would never be able to relax in that house.

Witchofthenorth · 31/05/2023 18:58

Hi OP, I live at the side of the same dual carriageway, about 10 miles north of the house you are looking at and it's not actually that bad. My house is separated from the road by an embankment but I'm still pretty close and I don't have an issue with the noise. I can have my windows open, can sit out in the garden, nothing is polluted or dirty from exhaust fumes.

It does take me a night or two to adjust when it's summer and I sleep with my window open, traffic does get heavy early in the morning, but a few nights with ear plugs and I'm all good. Don't discount it yet, go and view during the day and listen for the noise with windows open and shut, stand outside and see what it's like.

I understand the initial no's from previous posters but I've lived here for 3 years now and I find it fine.

TakeMe2Insanity · 31/05/2023 20:00

@A90neighbour the thing with Dundee is there are plenty of houses that are rural but close to the city so why be next to a dual carriageway especially when there are other options.

C4tastrophe · 31/05/2023 20:17

Ignore anyone saying ‘you’ll get used to it’ or ‘you can make it work’.
It’s a very, very undesirable location.
Just buy something normal people would buy.

Original poster
A90neighbour · 31/05/2023 21:06

Thanks everyone. A lot to think of here including things I hadn't considered like the vibrations, soot and having to keep windows closed even when it's one of the two days a year it's hot overnight.

OP posts:
Original poster
A90neighbour · 31/05/2023 21:07

TakeMe2Insanity · 31/05/2023 20:00

@A90neighbour the thing with Dundee is there are plenty of houses that are rural but close to the city so why be next to a dual carriageway especially when there are other options.

This is true but I feel like we could get lot of space for a good price with this one. It's not shifting so they might take a low offer.

OP posts:
Original poster
A90neighbour · 31/05/2023 21:09

Witchofthenorth · 31/05/2023 18:58

Hi OP, I live at the side of the same dual carriageway, about 10 miles north of the house you are looking at and it's not actually that bad. My house is separated from the road by an embankment but I'm still pretty close and I don't have an issue with the noise. I can have my windows open, can sit out in the garden, nothing is polluted or dirty from exhaust fumes.

It does take me a night or two to adjust when it's summer and I sleep with my window open, traffic does get heavy early in the morning, but a few nights with ear plugs and I'm all good. Don't discount it yet, go and view during the day and listen for the noise with windows open and shut, stand outside and see what it's like.

I understand the initial no's from previous posters but I've lived here for 3 years now and I find it fine.

You must be up nearer/beyond Forfar? This is a really interesting post, thank you! Do you think the embankment helps a lot?

OP posts:
Original poster
A90neighbour · 31/05/2023 21:10

angelopal · 31/05/2023 17:41

How much room is there to park? Where would visitors park?

Good point!

OP posts:
bellac11 · 31/05/2023 21:12

Every time I drive down busy roads I think 'thank god I dont live on a road like this'

Original poster
A90neighbour · 31/05/2023 21:13

Duckingella · 31/05/2023 17:22

Do you have young children or cats?

If you decided to go for it could you afford conifers to be planted along the edge of the property to buffer the noise and create some privacy.

Also if you have kids you'll be chauffeur as there's nowhere for kids to walk to or catch a bus;for me my teenagers having the independent to come and go would be important;my friends lived down a long single tracked country road with no pavement and it was a 10 minute drive to the nearest bus stop if there teenager wanted to go out to school or just go to the nearest McDonald's to meet their friends.

That said the price is amazing;where we live you'd easily pay 240K for a 3 bed ex council house.

Kids are old enough that they will be sensible, I'm not worried about them traffic wise as such but from the pollution I do have concerns. No cats, dog but the back garden could be made secure if not already.

There is a bus but getting to the stop on the southbound side would be very dangerous, so it's effectively a one way bus, and not in the direction we'd mostly be going.

OP posts:
MrsMoastyToasty · 31/05/2023 21:14

I'm about half a mile as the crow flies from the A4 between Bristol and Bath. I'm also a similar distance from the main railway line between Bristol and Paddington. I can hear both, especially at night when I have the windows open and there is less noise from other sources.

WhoSaidWhat123 · 31/05/2023 21:15

Wow that’s cheap! You would only get a little 3 bed house for that price where I am!!

BUT, it’s cheap for a reason, which you obviously already know. View the house and take your time viewing, listen out to the traffic from each room, think if it would bother you. Also consider the traffic if there was an accident. I would be scared of a car crashing into the house, but that’s just me!

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 31/05/2023 21:15

I lived in a very busy ‘B’road.

l never got used to it. It was impossible ever to have the windows open at the front. The traffic noises would start around 5.00 am. It would be boiling hot and we couldn’t sleep due to the heat. But the noise was worse. I’d never live on a busy road again.

Littleroseseverywhere · 31/05/2023 21:19

A90neighbour · 31/05/2023 21:07

This is true but I feel like we could get lot of space for a good price with this one. It's not shifting so they might take a low offer.

Show quote history

But It’s a huge price you will pay in terms of daily living, huge.

As said I did It, got greedy and saw I’d get way more house for the money. We regretted it every single day and it was decade before we could move, we now live up a private drive and away from any main road. I would always try to avoid it.

im from Glasgow. I know that road. I’ve no idea how a pp said she lives on it and got used to it, but admits she needs to sleep with ear plugs and it takes her a couple of nights to adjust in summer. There is no way her curtains etc don’t get dirty, pollution is a thing. The pollution coming in , being breathed in, when the windows are open will be horrific.

It is literally living on a dual carriage way . You will have constant traffic noise when in the garden, and very few people will want to live there, and when you realise and want to sell then your pool of buyers who will accept those daily negatives, every single day, will be limited

Rachaelrachael · 31/05/2023 21:20

Hell no! I wouldn't live there for free.
Why would anyone take that risk with their family's health?