(The following article by Ryan Werbeck was posted on the Port Huron Times Herald website on January 5.)
PORT HURON, Mich. — They’ve been heralded for years as an effective tool of warning while at the same time being an irritant for those who live near them.
Now the residents who must endure frequent blaring of train horns may see relief.
A new rule issued by the Federal Railroad Administration could allow communities to establish quiet zones, essentially ending the use of horns as trains approach certain intersections.
“I’d love it,” said Scott Card of Kimball Township. He, his wife, Laura, and their two children have lived in their Birchwood Lane home along a railroad track for three years.
“We knew there’d be trains,” he said. “We never realized the whistle would be going.”
Putting up with the loud horns, sometimes late at night, are something to which the family has grown accustomed.
Under the new rule, which takes effect Dec. 18, communities can choose to end the use of horns at intersections which have undergone safety upgrades, including added gates and signal lights.
The rule also has provisions for sounding horns closer to intersections.
“The expectation even in localities that choose not to establish a quiet zone, is that this rule will serve to reduce the level of noise and horns will sound for less time,” said Warren Flatau, a spokesman for the railroad administration. “We think it’s a win-win.”
The federal government, however, has not allocated any money for those improvements, Flatau said.
The impact on St. Clair County railways isn’t clear. Jim Warner of the St. Clair County Road Commission wasn’t aware of the rule.
Robert Clegg, Port Huron city engineer, also hadn’t heard of the new rule, but described it as intriguing.
Both said they’ve never heard complaints about loud train whistles.
Few worries
Terry Blashill, who lives on 16th Street in Port Huron and Card aren’t worried that removing horns will increase risks to drivers.
The horns, Blashill said, aren’t what catch a motorist’s attention.
“I think (they) pay more attention to the lights,” he said. “If they do get rid of (the whistles), I don’t think anyone would notice.”
Card has seen one accident at the railroad crossing near his home in the three years he and his family have lived there.
Operation: Lifesaver, a national railroad safety education group, is satisfied the rule won’t add any safety dangers.
“If information in the (rule) is followed, there wouldn’t be that much of a safety factor,” spokeswoman Marmi Edwards said. “I think they’re trying to give people options.”
Because whistles can’t be banned unless a stringent battery of safety requirements is met, Edwards doesn’t think many areas will change their thinking on whistles.
Those requirements include having gates blocking the entire length of a crossing on both sides, road dividers or other devices that channel traffic through an intersection or establishing one-way streets at intersections with gates across the road.
The Allen Road crossing the Cards live near has gates and warning lights, but the gates don’t stretch across the entire length of the crossing.
An Ohio rail safety organization sees the proposed changes as bad.
“I think they need to keep every aspect of rail safety in effect,” said Debbie Klostermeier, director of Hands Across Rails. “I don’t think it should be compromised.”
Klostermeier’s daughter was killed at a railroad crossing.
“I can’t believe there’s towns that don’t want the safety,” she said.
Jack Burke, a spokesman for Canadian National Railway, said it’s too soon to react to the new rule.
“We’re studying it, that’s all I can tell you,” he said.
Fact of life
Blashill doesn’t even blink when a train’s horn starts blaring near the 16th Street crossing. That crossing has three gates and warning lights protecting the two tracks.
“It’s become so ordinary, you don’t pay attention,” Blashill said. “If you live in this area, it’s part of your everyday life.”
Blashill’s home is within eyesight of the Amtrak train station and a railroad crossing that links with the tunnel to Canada.
“Ever since the new tunnel opened and the crossings were doubled, you probably get a train going through every 40 minutes,” he said.
Sitting in his home last week watching television, Blashill didn’t stop speaking as a train whistle wailed in the background. He didn’t acknowledge the noise at first.
Card said he’s grown accustomed to the noise and doesn’t let it alter his daily life.
“There’s really no way around it,” he said. “You never know when a train will come through.”
Card’s wife, Laura, calls the whistles white noise.
“It’s the same as living next to a freeway,” she said.
The couple has noticed differences depending on who is driving the train.
Some engineers start blowing whistles far from the Card’s Kimball Township home, while others will do a few short blows and are done.
“Sometimes, Scott and I will look at each other and say ‘That was a nice honker,'” she said. “If it was consistent, it wouldn’t be that bad.”