(The following article by Sarah Mauet was posted on the Arizona Daily Star website on January 21.)
MARANA, Ariz. — Residents living near railroad tracks can look forward to sleeping more soundly thanks to new regulations that limit the volume of train horns and the length of time they can sound.
The new sound restrictions, which the Federal Railroad Administration plans to put into effect on Dec. 18, are music to the ears of many residents living within hearing distance of the tracks.
“That can make our life so much better,” said Harry Roy, a Sunflower resident who can hear train whistles at three railroad crossings near his house. “It can bring some quality of life back to the Northwest part of town.”
Currently there is no maximum volume for train whistles, and regulations require trains to blow their horns a full quarter-mile before a railroad crossing regardless of their speed. That means trains traveling slowly have to sound their horns for quite a long time.
“During the daytime, the blast that pierces the quiet is not nearly as annoying as at night,” Roy said. “It’s relentless. It never stops all night long.”
The new rules, which will apply only to public railroad crossings, create a maximum volume for train whistles that is about equivalent to a car horn and will require trains to sound their horns no more than 20 seconds before arriving at railroad crossings.
“The new rule changes the distance regulation to a time regulation,” said John Bromley, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad, the track running through Marana.
“It’s going to reduce the amount of horn blowing we’re required to do.”
Trains are required to sound their horns as a precaution before they arrive at each of Marana’s eight public railroad crossings. Up to 45 trains pass through town each day, Bromley said.
“The line through Tucson is one of our busiest,” he said.
The town of Marana is also trying to ease the disturbance caused by train whistles by building the Twin Peaks Interchange, which will eliminate the Camino de Mañana railroad crossing, said Jim DeGrood, town development services director.
The town plans to begin building the interchange in 2006 and finish it in 2008.
And while DeGrood sympathizes with residents who are disturbed by the train whistles, his primary concern is safety of people in automobiles.
“We’ve had a history of people stopping on the tracks,” he said.
The town fines drivers who stop on railroad tracks. The fines are $200 for stopping on railroad tracks, $500 for being on the tracks after the gates come down and $1,000 if the vehicle is actually hit by a train. DeGrood hopes the fines will deter drivers from stopping on the tracks or trying to beat the gates.
Still, over the past five years there have been eight vehicle-train collisions, including one fatal accident, at Marana crossings, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is in charge of train safety in the state.
The new railroad regulations attempt to strike a balance between the comfort of residents near the tracks and the safety of drivers crossing the tracks. The regulations allow municipalities to silence train whistles entirely if railroad crossings are equipped with flashing lights and gates, and if doing so causes no additional safety concerns.
All eight public railroad crossings in Marana already have safety gates and flashing lights. However, DeGrood does not expect the town to pursue any quiet zones.
A 2000 study of the Ina railroad crossing commissioned by the town found that 2 percent of drivers still stop on the railroad tracks despite the safety precautions.
“Every third light cycle would end up with someone on the tracks and puts someone in harm’s way,” he said. “With that much of an incidence I could not with good conscience strike the horns.”