ABSTRACT: The City growth demands mobility and new paths to reduce the time expended in transportation of the urban population. However, in general, the increase of traffic and/or vehicle speed implies in more noise pollution. Noise pollution is considered by World Health Organization as cause of several health problems. In a Brazilian city, named Niteroi, a tunnel is being constructed in order to improve mobility issues, connecting a residential area to the boat station. However, the environment impact study performed by the municipalities did not consider properly the effects of larger vehicle flows and new express bus lanes through the residential area. In this work, the current acoustic scenario is analyzed and compared with the proposed by the government, using official projected data. The acoustic model of the area was built by noise measurements, vehicle flow counting data and land survey. The noise map generated by the acoustic model was validated by in loco measurements and allowed to evaluate both scenarios. The critical analysis pointed out to inadequate noise levels, when compared to the land use standard levels.
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