Brooklyn Neighborhood

Members of the Hosford Abernethy and Brooklyn Neighborhood Associations met Tuesday, January 13 to discuss train noise and traffic issues associated with existing freight trains and anticipated light rail trains along the rail corridor between OMSI and the Brooklyn Yards. The following is a summary of our current understanding of the laws and policies regarding anticipated light rail traffic and associated noise, the Federal Quiet Zones law, what it will take to get TriMet to integrate a Quiet Zone into the upcoming Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project, and finally, how you can get involved.

Thanks to Kamala Bremer of the Hosford Abernethy Neighborhood for these notes!

Train Facts:
• Currently 25-30 freight trains and 6 Amtrak trains run through the SE Division area.
• There are 6 intersections in the SE Division area (from the Highway 99 overpass to the 17th street rail overpass): SE 8th, SE 9th, Division Place, SE 11th, SE 12th, and Clinton,
• South Corridor light rail trains will run every 15 minutes in the day, and every 30 minutes at night.
• This means an additional 170 trains per day through the SE Division area – a train approximately every 7 minutes.
• Light rail trains will be required to follow federal train horn regulations for these 6 crossings because they are along the Union Pacific right of way.
• Federal Railroad Administration regulations require a train to sound its horn with 2 short and one long signal, beginning ¼ mile before the intersection and lasting until the front of the train is through the intersection.
• Light rail will be required to use the same 110 decibel horns and the same frequency of signals as the heavy trains.

Neighborhood Situation:
• Many people are already bothered by the train horn noise from the freight trains and Amtrak, and have wanted a quiet zone for years.
• Many people are awakened at night, and have had the quality of their lives reduced in major ways.
• Research shows that repeated loud noise is damaging to health in numerous ways, and to quality of life. Noise that prevents a full night sleep is especially damaging.
• Pedestrians at the proposed Clinton light rail station and bicyclists would be especially vulnerable to the loudness of these horns.
• Only this section of light rail track through SE Portland (from OMSI to the Brooklyn Rail Yard), and the section through Milwaukie, will be required to follow federal train horn regulations. Other light rail tracks follow local regulations

Other Neighborhoods:
• The City of Milwaukie wrote into their agreement with TriMet that all crossings in Milwaukie would be designed to Quiet Zone specifications; they are planning to have a quiet zone all the way through their city.
• The City of Portland did not write any protection for SE Portland into their agreement with TriMet.
• This train noise will not just affect HAND; Brooklyn, South Waterfront and SW Portland are also affected by the train horns from the SE Division area.

Who Can Remedy:
• TriMet is willing to design these crossings to quiet zone specifications, but is unlikely to do so unless requested by the road authority.
• The City of Portland is the local road authority for the SE Division area streets.
• Thus the City of Portland would need to request TriMet to design to Quiet Zone specifications.
• The City of Portland would need to eventually find funds for the modifications, but costs are not known. Intersections differ, but for some of them, costs could be minor. Some intersections may need to be changed significantly to handle the light rail traffic, and some of these changes may be covered under the light rail upgrades.

Federal Quite Zones:
• The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has created regulations that allow the local road authority to apply for a federally approved quiet zone.
• The local road authority (City of Portland) would need to put in place additional safety measures negotiated with the FRA to decrease the risk of the intersection.
• There is special consideration for areas which used to have local quiet zones. Portland had a “no whistle zone” in effect for this area until about 1995, when federal regulations superseded local quiet zones.
• The Oregon Department of Transportation will also need to approve the change.
• Once the Quiet Zone is implemented, neither light rail nor heavy trains would routinely blow their horns at the improved intersections (although they would of course still honk if there was a danger.)

Design/Engineering Options:
• Safety measures would need to be implemented to reduce the risk of the intersection.
• Measures could include: medians to keep people from going around gates, or “quad gates” that block traffic from all lanes.
• Measures would require special signal software to manage the flow of the trains – but this is already in place or would be upgraded in the light rail design process.
• Intersections would be signed to indicate that no horn will sound to warn of trains.

Our Request:
• Many people are already seriously disturbed by the current train horns.
• The level of additional train horns expected from light rail would be intolerable.
• We want the City of Portland to request TriMet to design the light rail crossings from 8th to 12th to Quiet Zone standards. There is no cost to add this to the design plans.
• Engineering contracts have already been let and the design process has just started.
• It is critical that these initial designs be planned to Quiet Zone standards, in order to avoid the cost of having to do this work twice.
• It will be much less expensive to make Quiet Zone changes in conjunction with light rail improvements, rather than doing this separately.
• The City of Portland is the only entity that can make this request.

Upcoming Meetings:
All the following meetings need people to attend, raise the issue and state our request. Action is needed NOW, in January, to influence the design process that has already started.

1. City of Portland Noise Review Board
Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 6:00 PM
1900 SW Fourth Ave. Room 2500 B (2nd floor)
Item 3 on agenda: Discussion from Board member Susan Pearce on the concerns in Hosford-Abernathy Neighborhood in regards to potential Light rail warning device noise in combination with existing train whistle. Item 7: Public Testimony

2. Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project, Citizen’s Advisory Committee
January 15, 2009, 6:00 to 7:30
Location: Holgate Plaza, TriMet Sellwood/Ankeny Training Classroom, 1625 SE Holgate Blvd. Portland
6:10 (5 minutes) and 7:20 (10 minutes), Public Comment

3. HAND Board Meeting
Tuesday, Jan. 20, 7 – 9 p.m.
St. Paul Classroom at the Paulist Center, St Philip Neri Catholic Church
2408 SE 16th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
Train Horn issue on agenda, time not known.

4. Petition to Mayor Sam Adams
Not yet scheduled.

What you can do:
• Come to the meetings listed above
• Check this site for future involvement opportunities, such as meetings, petitions to sign, and leaders to contact.