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Abstract: The paper provides results achieved during the research on the assessment and prediction of the urban noise in the city of Cluj-Napoca, a big economic, educational and cultural center in Romania, by respecting the laws in force related to the noise mapping. The examined noise source is the road traffic. The working method included noise measurements and also the generation of noise map by computer simulation with CadnaA software. Measurements of road traffic noise in 96 locations distributed on residential districts of the city, during September-November 2006, indicated that the noise levels in the city exceeded 60 dB(A) in all the measurement locations and that in 70% of them the recorded noise level was over 70 dB(A). A case study for noise and traffic evolution over a period of ten years (2001 – 2010) is presented, for one of the main streets in the city. The noise map associated to its area showed that the admissible levels for Lden (70 dB) and Lnight (60 dB) indicators, established by Romanian legislation were overlapped on the entire length of the street. With the help of CadnaA software it was possible to verify the influence of different input data on the resultant noise map. Some strategies have been analyzed, in order to find solutions for reducing the noise on the delimitated area: no heavy vehicles, speed limitation up to 40 km/h, traffic reduction and change of road surface from smooth asphalt to porous surface.

Keyword: Acoustic environment, Noise pollution, Traffic noise, Noise mapping, Noise prediction