The possibility of heavy metal pollution by contaminated roadside soils was studied under controlled conditions. The soil samples from roadside and those from a retention pond consisting of settling particles were characterized by the XRD analyses and the sequential extraction experiments. Characterization by sequential extraction, for roadside soil indicates elevate total concentrations of heavy metals. The leaching behavior of the samples under different pH and time conditions were also studied. Differences between both types of samples result mainly from the buffering effect of carbonates, present in roadside soils and lacking from settling particles. Acid leaching of the settling particles is equivalent to the sum of FI+FII+FIII, while the amounts leached from roadside soil are lower probably from kinetic reasons. The buffering effects of carbonates were found to greatly delay the onset of the leaching reactions and the extent of dissolution in most metals except for Ca and Mn. The study of leaching kinetics at pH of 6.5 and 5 showed that Cd and Zn reached the maximum possible concentration within 3 days, while Pb did not show any sign of dissolution at both ph values. The absolute amounts of dissolved Cd and Zn increased by 7 to 9 times by decreasing the pH from 6.5 to 5, indicating slightly acidified rain may result in significant metal dissolution. As deduced from both sequential extraction and leaching experiments, the relative mobility of heavy metals is found to be : Mn=Cd>Zn>>Pb>Fe, in spite of large differences in heavy metal contents and localizations.