Musical roads around the world
Scattered around the world are “musical roads”, as disparate as Iran, California, Denmark, and Japan.
How can roads be musical?
These tuneful roads use the vibrations made by each wheel of the car as it bumps along the uneven road, with select grooves carved into the road surface to make a cohesive series of notes.
By changing the distance between each strip, the pitch can be controlled. The closer the strips are, the higher the pitch of the vibrations, and the further apart they are, the lower the pitch is.
This can also be achieved using raised bumps in the road.
But this method is much more jarring to the vehicle occupants, and only the very first musical road in Gylling, Denmark, was created this way.
Ensuring the road stays in tune can be quite difficult though. Engineers must etch each groove so that it is sampled at a specific speed, just like how a record has to follow rpm limits.
Drivers need to hit the grooves head-on and should keep their windows closed to get the best effect, as most of the sound is transmitted through the car’s chassis rather than the air.
While there are none currently in Australia (or New Zealand), there are dozens around the world with their own tune of choice. Here are top five musical roads from all over the globe.
The Musical Road - Lancaster, California, USA
Originally installed as part of an advertising campaign for the Honda Civic, and was the first musical road in the United States. Due to noise complaints from locals living alongside the road, the city moved the road to a more secluded area, where it continues to play the finale of “William Tell Overture”.
Melody Road - Mount Fuji, Japan
There are about 30 musical roads across Japan that play tunes taken from Japanese culture.
The roads are highlighted by colourful musical notes painted on the road.
The Melody Road heading up to Mount Fuji plays “Fuji no Yama”, a traditional song about the famous mountain.
Road 67 - Hungary
Hungary’s first musical road, Road 67, opened in 2019 and serves as the main road between Kaposvar and the M7 motorway. The road plays a song written by Hungarian band Republic they named after Road 67.
Route 66 Musical Highway - Tijeras, New Mexico, USA
Built as part of a social experiment for one of National Geographic’s TV series, the Route 66 Musical Highway was a test to see if drivers would follow the unpopular speed limit if a reward was offered. The reward of getting to hear a small snippet of “America the Beautiful” has proven to be a popular way of ensuring drivers follow the 45 mph (72 km/h) speed limit, though it has become slightly out of tune.
Melody Road - Anyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Just to the south of Seoul, a section of highway in Anyang plays the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. The musical elements were added to keep motorists alert, as 68 percent of traffic accidents in South Korea are caused by inattentive, sleeping or speeding drivers, while also entertaining commuters.
Whimsey hides the true motivation
While musical roads might come across as a pure novelty, the requirement to “play” the tune at a specific speed can also serve as a stealth enforcement of speed limits.
In New Mexico, for instance, the melodic road is part of a strategy to reduce accidents on a stretch of Route 66 that has often been the source of accidents in the past.
In South Korea, the musical roads are intended to help motorists stay alert in areas where fatigue has caused a number of accidents.