EVALUATION OF HUMAN IMPACTS IN ROAD PROJECTS

The Finnish Road Administration has applied the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure in 35 road and bridge projects altogether, both before and after the Environmental Impact Assessment Act came into force (1994). Evaluation of human impacts has been carried out more and more frequently in the projects. Although human impact assessment is an essential part of the environmental impact assessment procedure, it still needs development and improved skills on the part of both the evaluators and their clients. This report aims at serving development of road project impact evaluation by surveying the status of human impact assessment in the evaluation reports that have been made. The report is expected to function as a tool for mutual exchange of experiences and for the internal learning process in the Road Administration. The report introduces issues that should be given special attention in further development of and training for impact assessment. Chapter 2 of the report describes the human impacts evident in the evaluation reports as well as ways to classify them. Chapter 3 discusses the methods used to assess impacts. Chapter 4 looks into interaction as it has been realised in the process. The contribution of participation to the process is also analysed. Chapter 5 provides conclusions on the basis of the information yielded by the status survey. The general nature of the evaluation reports can be roughly divided into three so far as the human impacts are concerned: 1. the stage of novelty and pilot cases, when the human impacts were also assessed searching for a practical model for implementation, 2. the stage of increased stability and routine, with less weight given to human impacts than in the initial stage, and significant differences were evident in the reports in this respect, and 3. the most recent stage of assessment, which puts the focus on an effort at interaction.