A survey was conducted of 288 residents living within 100m of the South east freeway, Brisbane, to determine the magnitude and distribution of the effects of the freeway traffic noise. Respondents were asked to self report their annoyance and were questioned regarding other effects of noise such as shutting of windows and disturbance to sleep. The location of respondents reporting each effect is shown. The distribution of annoyance scores is discussed in terms of the freeway geometry, and an attempt is made to relate annoyance to distance from the freeway. The validity of the annoyance scale used was established by its correlation with the reporting of other effects of traffic noise.