(The following appeared at EyeOutForYou.com on February 21.)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The sound you hear may be people cheering. Residents who’ve complained about train horns have reason to celebrate, after the Federal Railroad Administration ordered train horns shut off through downtown Bakersfield.
Eyewitness News has obtained the letter from the FRA that went out to the train companies and the city of Bakersfield. Dated February 11th, the letter orders the train horns shut down within 21 days.
Bakersfield City Attorney Ginny Gennaro says that should mean quiet along the tracks by about March fourth.
Eyewitness News contacted Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokeswoman Lena Kent, who says it will take a while to instruct all their crews — but the horns will be silenced by the deadline.
Residents who live and work near the tracks have been upset since a new Federal Rule went on the books in 2005 ordering every train to blow its horn at every street crossing.
Neighbors along East Truxtun were thrilled to see the new letter from the Feds. “There’s several hundred people I’ve talked to up and down this corridor,” businessman Ben Dominguez told Eyewitness News. “They’re going to be absolutely ecstatic about this decision.”
The letter from the FRA says even though the new train horn rule requirements were in effect for a while in Bakersfield, the area can get a re-instatement of previous “no horn blowing agreements.”
That has been a sticking point. The new federal rule says the horns do not have to blow — if a city applies for a “quiet zone.” But, the city must install additional safety equipment at the crossings in that zone.
Some residents had insisted the former “no blow” agreements could be simply be continued, and a resident found an old memo showing Bakersfield was an exception where “…engine whistles will not be blown.”
Last December, the city included that memo off in a letter to the FRA demanding reinstatement of that “no blow” policy.
The new letter from the FRA agrees there were previous agreements in Bakersfield, and that’s good enough to continue a “no blow” policy.
FRA Associate Safety Administrator Jo Strang writes that it appears Burlington Northern Santa Fe had “…an informal agreement with the City of Bakersfield to refrain from the routine sounding of the locomotive horn at the highway-rail grade crossings…” through downtown.
“Therefore, the City of Bakersfield appears to qualify for Pre-Rule Quiet Zone status…” reads the letter.
No horns blowing sounds very good to Holiday Inn Select manager Mike Schaefer. “It’s very exciting to see that the train noise is going to finally be subsided — at least on a temporary basis.”
And that’s the next step. To keep the horns shut down, the city must still apply for the official “quiet zone” designation — and to do that, the city has to put in the extra safety equipment.
Eyewitness News asked Bakersfield City Council Member Sue Benham when the city will decide about that. “We don’t even have the information yet upon which to base a decision,” said Benham. “But we are continuing to move forward on that.”
Holiday Inn manager Mike Schaefer hopes the city will keep working for the permanent “quiet zone” under the federal rule. “Evaluate the safety of the existing crossings, and look at all the alternatives for silencing the horns on a permanent basis.”
Schaefer and Bakersfield resident Dean Gardner say they also shot off a letter to the FRA on behalf of 1,400 residents and businesses along the tracks. They believe the order to shut down the horns is also a response to their efforts.
The city has explored getting a quiet zone designation for the railroad crossings from “L” Street to the Sumner and Miller. City Attorney Ginny Gennaro says the city will file for a permanent “quiet zone” by February 24th — the deadline for that action.