Considerations of living on a main road

[Elsie2211]

I've always lived on quiet streets however am considering a move to a house which is on a main road. It has off-road parking for 2 vehicles and we are 1 car family.

I am thinking of the practical considerations of living on a main road such as day time deliveries, parking for tradesmen etc.

By main road I mean a road in a busy town which has double yellow lines on either side but not an A/B road.

Can you share your experiences/considerations of living on a main road?

We did live on a busy road and I wouldn't do it again unless I had no other choice.

You get used to the noise but it is such a relief not to hear it now.

The intermittent noise of random motorbikes was the worst, although I also had to shut the windows to have online meetings as the background noise was too loud at some times of the day.

I found the windows would get really dirty, presumably from car fumes as it doesn't happen now. If the windows were open then the windowsills would have black dust instead of normal white/grey dust.

I wouldn't do it if you have other options.

Which rooms are at the front and back of the house? How fussed are you about privacy, for example would you dislike being in your kitchen if people could potentially see in?

We live on a main road, but it doesn't bother us most of the time. Our house is set back from the road, which helps and there's a wide verge, footpath and then our driveway so we're not right on the road. We've also grown a thick, evergreen hedge out front, both for privacy and to reduce traffic noise. The rumble of ordinary cars/lorries is something you quickly get used to, but I agree about occasional noisy motorbikes being intrusive. The main thing though is how the rooms are orientated. Ideally, you want your main living area and as many bedrooms as possible at the back overlooking the garden.

It's set back from the road in as much that there is a driveway in front of the house for 2 cars side by side. The front of the house is the formal living room downstairs and the master bedroom upstairs. I envisage spending most of our time in the second living room/playroom.

Currently it has glazed sash windows that I would look to replace for triple glazed sash windows.

We live on a main road. Delivery Drivers just pull up, they don’t seem to care. We don’t have a drive so we pull up to unload shopping etc. it’s fine.

Of course I’d prefer to be a road or two back but I couldn’t afford to buy if that were the case.

Is traffic sufficiently low such that it easy to reverse in so you can drive out? I used to live practically on a mini roundabout (installed after I moved in) opposite a junction, and it was fine as the (busy) road was wide enough to pull over half on the pavement of next door and reverse in very quickly.

You don't want to reverse out as it's illegal and difficult to see what's coming.

Currently it has glazed sash windows that I would look to replace for triple glazed sash windows.

You may want to look in to the cost/benefits of triple glazing. Most road noise is low frequency rumble which passes through walls quite easily. So triple glazing won't help much - though it will do a bit for your heating bills.

Hopefully you don't have cats