(The following article by Karyn Hsiao appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on March 29.)
SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has been negotiating “as fast as we can” to slow the trains on 900 South.
On Friday, the mayor and Union Pacific officials announced a finalized agreement to implement a “quiet zone” along the west-side rail corridor.
“This will improve the quality of life for families who must deal with the constant travel of trains” through their back yards in the Poplar Grove and Glendale areas, Anderson said.
The agreement eventually will eliminate the use of train whistles along 900 South between 700 West and Redwood Road (1700 West) — except in emergencies.
“Without whistles, we have to find a way that is as safe or safer to prevent cars from crossing the tracks when a train is approaching,” said D.J. Baxter, the mayor’s senior adviser.
Possible solutions — which must be approved by the Utah Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration — include 8- to 10-inch-high road medians and one-way streets at gated crossings.
Such measures cost between $500,000 and $2.5 million, Baxter says, and city officials will seek community input Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center, 855 W. California Ave., before picking a preferred remedy for seven intersections along the 900 South rail corridor.
Beginning April 7, the city also will place crossing guards at two intersections closest to Parkview Elementary. “Our long-term goal is to decrease or eliminate train traffic on the 900 South rail line,” Anderson said.
For its part, Union Pacific will work with city officials to do “as little harm and impact” as possible to those who live near its lines, said Cameron Scott, the railroad’s superintendent of Utah services.
The company also plans to limit train speed to 30 mph, pay for safety fencing and refrain from transporting radioactive wastes on the 900 South line.
Salt Lake City and Union Pacific agreed to establish a second “quiet zone” in the downtown Gateway area from 500 North to 200 South between 600 West and 700 West.