Officials hope lane dividers will restore quiet zone at RR crossings
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
City of Burlington officials think they have a handle on what it will take to regain its quiet-zone status with the Federal Railroad Administration.
Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see if the improvements – the installation of medians – being done on the crossings at Milwaukee Avenue and Roberts Street will fit the bill.
City staff issued a press release July 31 outlining their plan to get the city below what is called the “risk threshold” and to return the city to its previous peace and quiet of no train horns required at the five city crossings.
Canadian National Railroad trains have been sounding their horns while approaching the city’s crossings since late June, when the quiet zone status expired. City staff had hoped an appeal to the FRA safety board would get the quiet zone reinstated while it continued to work on options with regulators, but the appeal was denied, as it was in at least two other Wisconsin cities.
Last week, it looked like the best long-term option for the city would be to install interlocking quad gates at Milwaukee Avenue. However, now the city has changed course, and is installing medians at the two train crossings at Milwaukee Avenue and Roberts Street.
The construction on those medians began Monday. Once they are complete, the city will reapply for its quiet zone status.
“Based upon our analysis, these improvements coupled with the improvements already made to Jefferson Street and Adams Street will reduce our risk threshold below the federally required level,” the press release read.
However, further down, city staff cautioned the approval process could take up to three months – and may still not please the FRA.
“The possibility exists that the FRA could deny our application, based upon factors which are unknown at this time,” the release said. “Additionally, they could require additional information before reaching a decision.
“This type of activity will delay the reinstatement of the quiet zone further.”
City Administrator Kevin Lahner declined to comment further on the situation, saying, “I think the press release is going to speak for itself.”
But Mayor Bob Miller did add that the city has asked the FRA whether these improvements will be enough – and hasn’t received a definite answer.
“It does seem to meet, on paper, the point requirement.”
Miller said the medians might prove better for the city in the long run. In addition to the relatively high cost of installing quad gates, the city would also have to pay an annual maintenance fee to the railroad for upkeep of the gates.
Meanwhile, the businesses along Milwaukee Avenue affected by the median seem to be taking a “wait and see” approach.”
“I think the city’s working on a resolution to get us better access to our building,” said Joe Busch of Bear Realty. As for whether the medians would affect the business, he added, “It’ll be hard to tell.”
Fred Mabson, the owner of Fred’s Parkview, said he wasn’t sure if the medians would or would not be a problem.
“It will affect me if they can’t make a left turn into the alley,” said Mabson, who seemed resigned the hard reality of the situation.
“There isn’t anything I can do about it, anyways,” he said.
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GET IT DONE !!!
So if the dual locking gate option takes 18 months to get completed and is the best solution,why did city leadership discover the date issue in June of this year? If they thought that the real date to implement the changes was 2014, shouldn’t they have been working with the railroad back in December or January to get the project completed by July of 2014???
Well if it Helps reduce Head On Accidents? I’m all for it!
Going More WideSpread on using Concrete Medians/Dividers
I doubt if it’s Practical , but I think The Whole Hwy ought to have a Safety Median..From one End of the City to the other and the whole county and state for that matter..
All Roads that are at or above 15 MPH ought to Have a Concrete Safety Median..as well as all Stores/Businesses have Concrete Pilings In Front of them as well.
Too many Vehicles are Driving Head On into each other to Into Stores and Businesses..all over the State.
I cannot beleive how many Near Misses I have had just this yr alone.. swinging to my Right to avoid some vehilce wandering into My lane .
http://search.aol.com/aol/search?s_it=topsearchbox.search&v_t=keyword_rollover&q=How+many+head+On+Collisions+a+Yr+in+Wi
.Web Results-Off-duty Wis. officer killed in head-on collision – WEAU
-20-year-old woman killed in head-on collision on Hwy. 16 in …
-And we have More and More Deer Collisions..
Motor Vehicle-Deer Crashes in – Wisconsin Departme…
Avoiding Vehicle-Deer Collisions, City of Elkhorn, Wisconsin (WI)
but very few Do.. They’re too busy Texting or talking on their Cell Phones !
Nice thoughts, but you said it yourself. It is not practical. People simply need to drive defensively and keep an eye open for others who drive distracted, drunk or otherwise impaired.
And while your at it, eliminate the left turn on to Pine street from Milwaukee avenue that jams up the Traffic. The next intersection west has a turning lane, duh
THANK YOU!
An unfortunate situation that should have been taken care of years ago. I find the excuses & blame game being played by city officials interesting. It seems like a different story each time, then the railroad speaks & it is once again a whole new story. Is anyone else curious about why they procrastinated so many years after being notified of impending updates? Who is directly responsible for failing to follow through? Someone needs to be held accountable. It may seem trivial to people living a mile or more away from the tracks, but I am sure the hotel & Boardwalk residents would see it as a more serious error! Their lives & businesses have been adversely affected!
It’s not trivial to people living a mile or more away. I live 2 miles away from a crossing and those d!mn train horns wake me up every time they come through at 1, 3, 4, etc. in the morning. Those sounds can travel quite far.
Ok, maybe a mile was too short of a distance (I live a mile or so away and I hear every one of them). My point is that people who can not hear the horns loud & clear are not sympathetic with those who are affected 24/7. A city united in a cause is a strong city. To the people who are not affected at all, support your neighbors, you may have an issue come up at some point where you need that same support to achieve a desired result. Just sayin…
AMEN J !!
The city official’s made a BIG mistake! But the railroad don’t half to blow their horns as loud and long as most of them do! People are not getting enough sleep and that could be more dangerous, than the horns blowing!!
People are looking to hold someone accountable for the delay in meeting the regulation deadline. Pointing fingers is the new fad in this country and it gets us no where. They say their sorry, won’t happen again or get fired and the next person in line makes the same mistake again. We use to pride ourselves for concentrating on and PREVENTING problems. Now we spend way to much time fixing yesterdays problems tomorrow. I would bet money is the cause of this problem but that’s a whole other problem…
Why shouldn’t someone be held accountable? If I fail to do my job, I may lose it. For every action, there is a reaction. Holding someone accountable for such a case of gross negligence is certainly within reason. The harsh reality is that without accountability, there is chaos. Citizens have the right to demand action when officials fail to represent & properly perform their job duties. This is a perfect example of someone failing to do what they are paid to do. Plain & simple. GET IT DONE is right!
AMEN BOB ~~ GET IT DONE GUYS !!!
Okay, this is getting “ridiculous”. Our patience is running “very” thin. Burlington is a small “quiet” town at midnight and 1 AM. There’s no traffic, the lights and gates are down, now you tell me “WHY” “some” of these engineers enjoy “blasting” the horns as loud as they can like they are in the middle of rush hour traffic in a “big” city. They need to be told to “cool” it. There are a “few” polite engineers who do it “right” with their “quiet” short “toots”. Let’s get this issue resolved SOON!