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More Towns Look to Muffle Train Noise Interest Grows in Safety Enhancements That Allow Locomotives to Lay Off the Horn.

Posted on: Thursday, 8 December 2005, 21:00 CST

By Marion Rhodes

BLAIR, Neb. -- Surrounded by farmland and acreages, this community of 8,000 could be peaceful. But roughly 35 times each day, the town's serenity is disrupted.

Shrill whistles announce trains passing on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks that run through Blair's center. The noise echoes all over the city.

"I sit on my porch in the summertime," said Phyllis Green, who lives 100 feet south of the railroad tracks. "When you're on the phone -- just forget it."

Residents and city officials want to eliminate the noise without compromising safety.

Communities across the country have considered socalled "quiet zones" since new Federal Railroad Administration regulations went into effect in June. The zones, which have to span at least a half- mile mile, feature heightened safety equipment at railroad crossings that allows locomotive engineers to keep their hands off the horns as they pass through town.

"It's really gaining a lot of popularity," said Kyle Anderson, an Omaha consultant who has worked with several communities on establishing quiet zones, including Grand Island and Scottsbluff.

Grand Island has hired a consultant to study safety improvements for the city's Union Pacific and BNSF Railway Co. crossings.

"It's a quality-of-life issue," said the city's public works director, Steve Reihle. "Our downtown would like to be a buzz of activity . . . but frequent train horns prohibit that."

The City of Ralston has allocated more than $100,000 for a possible quiet zone along the BNSF tracks east of 77th Street. Officials are still debating whether to spend that much money on a problem that affects only a portion of town, City Council member Jerry Krause said.

Safety measures that would eliminate the need for a train whistle include four-quadrant gate systems, medians, one-way streets and "wayside" horns, which send warning sounds down crossing streets as a train approaches.

Costs range from $55,000 for a wayside horn system to $500,000 for a four-quadrant gate system, which prevents vehicles from driving around crossing gates. Other options include closing the crossing or building an overpass.

Anderson said installing medians or wayside horns does the trick. Gering, Neb., installed wayside horns as a demonstration project 10 years ago. Kearney, Neb., and Ames, Iowa, also installed stationary warning horns.

"The sound level at the crossing itself isn't much reduced," Anderson said of the horns, which blast between 92 and 96 decibels - - about the sound of an electric drill. Train whistles can blow up to 110 decibels, the sound of a chain saw. However, Anderson said, the sound of the wayside horns is less shrill and more channeled, creating less of a disruption in the community.

Costs for quiet zones are the communities' responsibility.

"Our view from Union Pacific is: We have provided the warning device in the form of our locomotive horn," said Pat Halsted, U.P. manager of industry and public projects.

U.P., as well as the state, may provide some financial backing for the closure of railroad crossings, he said.

U.P. spokesman Mark Davis said the railroad supports the use of quiet zones. Train crews, however, are skeptical of the idea, he said.

"Their only mode to warn drivers is their horn," Davis said. "When you come in and want to remove the only safety device they have, it makes them a little uneasy."

Blair City Administrator Rod Storm said the city would hire a consultant and do a study to explore the best option for the community.

Dennis McCormick of Blair helped collect 212 signatures favoring a review of the matter.

"It's got to be a win-win situation for the whole town," McCormick said.

Source: Omaha World - Herald

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