Study Says Quiet Zones are Ultimately Safer Than Horns at Railroad Crossings
NPR TRANSCRIPT:
Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®.

JACKI LYDEN, host:For many small towns across the country, the haunting sounds of the long bellowing train whistles are part of old world charm. But for people who live near train tracks that charm can wear off pretty fast.  Back in the 1990s, the federal government mandated train whistles or horns as a safety feature. But a revision to that law means some communities can replace those noisy horns with other measures.

MORALES: More than a hundred trains pass through this town very day. Tom Elzey has been an engineer on those trains for more than 30 years, and for all of those he’s been tooting that horn to announce the trains’ arrival. That hasn’t won him any popularity contest.

Mr. TOM ELZEY (Train Engineer): I was getting a haircut one time and I told her that I was an engineer for the railroad, and she got incredibly irate. I think she blamed me for every time she’d been delayed at the road crossing and for all that noise. And she started waving those scissors around and I’m thinking I’m going to end up with a Mohawk. I’m going to walk out of here.

MORALES: Elzey was obeying federal laws put into place into 1994, before then it was up to the states. Most had some sort of whistle mandate. But then Florida decided to try a statewide whistle ban.

Federal Railway Administration spokesman Ron Reese says his agency was asked to study the ban’s safety.

Mr. RON REESE (Director, Federal Railway Administration): During the nighttime hours when the whistle bans were in effect, the collisions increased almost three times; increased 195 percent during the ban hours.

MORALES: This spurred the federal government into action. It mandated whistles at all public highway railway crossings across the country. After the law went into effect, the agency got a slew of requests that communities didn’t want the noisy whistles and suggested alternative safety precautions.

Those alternatives: gates, bells, lights and signs, these so-called Quiet Zones were finally approved in 2005. More than 180 towns have enacted these Quiet Zones since then. Flagstaff is one of the latest.

Engineers are still allowed to lay the horn in emergencies. But longtime engineers like Tom Elzey are used tooting them regularly and it’s a tough habit to break.

Mr. ELZEY: You know, it’s nerve racking. I mean you keep reaching for the horn the whole time.

Mr. ELZEY: So you’re just sitting there twitching the whole time thinking that you’re messing up somehow.

MORALES: Still, rationally, Elzey knows he’s not messing up. In fact, he believes Quiet Zones could even be safer than train whistles.

The Federal Railway Administration agrees. The agency has done preliminary studies on the issue, and so far it says those studies show these Quiet Zones are, indeed, safer.

For NPR News, Im Laurel Morales in Flagstaff, Arizona.

LYDEN: This is NPR News.

Last year’s Solarize Portland effort resulted in 120 homeowners working together to build a 350kW clean energy powerplant  (equal to taking 650 cars off the road!) right here on the roofs of SE Portland homes.

Southeast Uplift and Imagine Energy are partnering to offer Solarize SE, Phase II.  Solarize is a community education and solar installation program designed to help southeast Portland homeowners overcome the barriers to going solar at home, including who to hire, how much to budget and where to start.  With Solarize Southeast, interested neighbors will join forces to conquer the process as a team, and realize cost savings with bulk purchasing power.

Free workshops are being held in March and April throughout southeast Portland.  These events will provide information needed to make a sound decision about solar electricity, and inform participants about how the Solarize project works.

Neighbors are invited to participate in this exciting project.  If you would like to install solar electricity on your home please visit www.solarizeSEportland.org for information about upcoming workshops and to find out how to sign up.  We are also looking for people who are interested in spreading the word about this throughout the community.  The more people we get signed up the more cost savings this project can accomplish!  If you are interested in helping to organize your community to solarize please contact Tim O’Neal, Neighborhood Sustainability Coordinator for SE Uplift, at 503.232.0010 x313, or email tim@southeastuplift.org.

When: Wednesday March 3, 6:30-8:00 PM.

Where: Mt. Scott Community Center Click here

Spread the word!

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Portland Parks Recreation is making BIG CUTS to the summer programs and Brooklyn Park is one of them.  In the past, Brooklyn residents have always “stepped up to the plate.” If we as a neighborhood, do not act now, we will lose this program.

PLEASE DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO HELP US SAVE THIS INVALUABLE PROGRAM!

Here’s what you can do!
Email, write or call Nick Fish’s office and tell him what this program means to this community and to our kids.
This may be our only chance, so act now.
Commissioner Nick Fish
1221 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 240 Portland, OR 97204
Email: nick@ci.portland.or.us
Phone: Office Front Desk: 503-823-3589
Office Fax: 503-823-3596

Parks Budget hearing at Mt. Scott Community Center this coming Wednesday, March 3 at 6 – 8:30 pm if anyone would like to go and lobby for Brooklyn’s Program.

WE CAN SAVE THIS PROGRAM WITH YOUR HELP, BUT WE NEED IT NOW!

Portland-Milwaulkie Light Rail Conceptual Design Report – index to the full report

View the Conceptual Design Report

Clinton Street, Rhine Street and Holgate Boulevard station areas

System Elements and Preliminary Engineering Recommendations

- see page 8 and 9, Quiet Zone

Feel free to attend a Light Rail Open House to learn more about plans for your neighborhood, and to thank TriMet and City stakeholders for taking our concerns to heart. The meeting notices are in the calendar to the left of this post.

Thanks to the Hosford Abernethy Neighborhood Association for this update.

Location: Thelma Skelton Loaves and Fishes Center, 3925 SE Milwaukie Boulevard.

Who We Are: The Brooklyn Action Corps is a neighborhood organization whose purpose is to better the community by working together toward the solution of its social, physical, and economic problems. The Board is active in all that affects the greater good of the Neighborhood.  All members of the community are invited to join the BAC and serve as a volunteer board member. Board membership requires a commitment of 2 to 3 hours per month.  Please come to the board meeting if you’re interested in the neighborhood association or want to join the board.

Please join Southeast Uplift for a Southeast Sustainability Network discussion about the role of neighborhood sustainability committees in this effort on Tuesday, January 26, from 6:30-8:30 at 3534 SE Main Street.

Steve Johnson, long-time local community activist, researcher, educator, lecturer and consultant will give a presentation on the importance of community involvement in sustainability.  You’ll also get project updates from other neighborhoods’ sustainability committees and hear about the successful Solarize Portland Project.

If you’re interested in starting a sustainability committee in your neighborhood, want to join an existing committee or are just curious about what others are doing we would like for you to attend.  This event is free and all are welcome.

Call 503.232.0010 x313 or email tim@southeastuplift.org with any questions.

The first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 6th from 7 pm until 8:30 pm at the Thelma Skelton Loaves and Fishes Center at 3911 SE Milwaukie Avenue.  Area residents, employees, and business owners are welcome to attend.

City planners and agency representatives will work with area residents to tackle the following questions:

-  What are the opportunities for redevelopment around the Clinton and Rhine stations?

-  How can community cohesion between the Hosford-Abernethy and Brooklyn neighborhoods be improved?

- How might the employment and industrial areas around the stations  evolve?

-When and how can the public comment on the different projects and planning efforts for the area?

For more information, please contact Matt Wickstrom at the City of Portland, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability at 503-823-2834.

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The public and anyone interested in joining the BAC Board are encouraged to attend the BAC Board Meeting on January 13

Warning to owners of small animals: KEEP THEM INSIDE AT NIGHT!

Guest speakers Mike Mason and Brett Richards from the Oregon Department of Transportation will address concerns about repaving plans and other issues with McLoughlin Boulevard, plus representatives of the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation will discuss the Bicycle Master Plan.  Anyone interested in the Brooklyn neighborhood and/or these issues is encouraged to attend.  The BAC general meetings are held at the Thelma Skelton Loaves and Fishes center at the corner of SE Milwaukie Avenue and SE Center Street. (Directions)