ROCKLAND, N.Y. — A county proposal to keep Rockland free of blaring train whistles must now await a decision by federal officials trying to come up with a way to keep railroad crossings safe without splitting neighbors’ eardrums, reports the White Plains Journal News.
Following an industry standard, trains currently sound their horns for up to 30 seconds at 96 decibels each time they cross a public railroad crossing, day or night.
Noise approaching 100 decibels is similar to jets flying over at 1,000 feet or a gas-powered lawn mower 3 feet away.
There is no federal regulation determining the volume or duration of horns now, but the Federal Railroad Administration is expected to set a national rule early next year.
“We’re getting the final rule done,” said Warren Flatau, an FRA spokesman. “We want to get it out as soon as possible. I expect it to come out soon after the first of the year, but I don’t have an exact date.”
Consultants for Rockland County recently delivered the final part of a 370-page study of the safety measures currently in place at Rockland’s 26 rail crossings, and what would need to be done to upgrade them.
Performed by R.L. Banks and Associates for about $40,000, the study shows that some of Rockland’s crossings need better gates, some need more highway dividers, and a couple need to be closed to meet the federal safety standards that experts expect to come out of Washington in a few months.
“These are recommendations. This is not a plan,” said Susan Meyer, the county’s spokeswoman for public transportation and planning. “We know some people may disagree with our suggestions. This is just the beginning.”
Orangetown officials have already told the county they didn’t support eliminating the Highview Avenue crossing on the West Shore Line in Orangeburg, one of the report’s recommendations.
The other crossing recommended for elimination is at Ballard Avenue in Sloatsburg, intersecting with the Main-Bergen line, which goes to Port Jervis. Village officials there just got a copy of the study last week, when county officials mailed the 2-inch-thick binder to all the municipalities and transportation agencies involved.
The problem of train-horn noise has risen in recent years after the breakup of Conrail and the purchase of the West Shore line by CSX Transportation.
County officials estimated earlier this year that the number of daily freight trains in Rockland had risen on the West Shore line from 17 to 52 in the past four years.
Officials from CSX Transportation were unavailable for comment, but have said in the past that they support crossing upgrades done with public dollars as long as they’re safe enough.
CSX officials have said crossings need to be permanently separated, with the road or rail running on an overpass, to be safe enough that a whistle doesn’t need to be blown.
The FRA’s movement toward establishing new quiet zones by upgrading the safety of crossings has grown out of residents’ complaints about train horns blowing at levels that shatter their quality of life.
“The sound of the horn is just piercing,” said Congers resident Dana Denise, who lives about 200 yards from the Gilchrist Road crossing, the site of the most deadly train-bus accident in Rockland’s history. A school bus accident on March 24, 1972, claimed the lives of five students and injured 44 others and the driver.
“To have Rockland be a quiet zone would be wonderful,” she said. “I can’t even explain it. When you live by the railroad, you have to learn to make adjustments for it.”
Denise said having grown up in the same house she lives in now with her husband and three young children, she’s used to the sounds of the train, except the horn.
“It startles you. It’s a jolt, especially if you’re not aware a train is coming,” she said. “I run and tell the kids a train is coming so they can cover their ears.”
The Gilchrist Road crossing would be a candidate for better roadway dividers to ensure that cars and trucks can’t sneak around the crossing gates that are already there.
The cost of the Gilchrist Road upgrade would be $15,000, according to the study, with $2,500 a year in annual maintenance.
The overall cost for improving the 25 public crossings in the study would be about $1.9 million, the study found, with annual maintenance costs of about $29,000. The local municipalities and the county would be responsible for paying those costs.
The lone private crossing, at Elm Avenue in Tomkins Cove, would require no changes to meet the expected minimum requirements, largely because it carries such low traffic volume compared with other crossings.
Peter Barsanti said he wasn’t sure what would happen to the Andre Avenue crossing near his Tappan home, but he wouldn’t mind seeing the entire intersection eliminated.
The study calls for long gates there, but he said he would take anything that would mean engineers wouldn’t need to hit their whistles every time they got within a quarter-mile of the crossing.
“We thought it was one train about every two hours when we moved in, but now it seems more like two every hour,” he said. “We didn’t realize what an intrusion it was on us. In the summer, with no air conditioners on, it stops conversation.”
Haverstraw village Mayor Francis “Bud” Wassmer said he had a chance to look briefly through the report and can’t wait to see it implemented.
“We have three grade crossings plus the tunnel,” Wassmer said of the Gurnee Avenue overpass. “We’re certainly a village that has to contend with the railroad and CSX. Noise is one of the biggest complaints we hear.”
Wassmer said the cost for upgrading the entire county’s crossings is minimal, and he wants the county to move as quickly as possible.
“The noise pollution is really terrible, and creating quiet zones here is going to be a huge improvement to the quality of life in this community,” Wassmer said.
County officials plan to send executive summaries of the study to members of the public who have attended past meetings on the issue.