City misses deadline for railroad crossing improvements, putting train horn waiver in jeopardy
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
City of Burlington residents and business owners could soon be subjected to continuous, teeth-rattling horn blasts as trains – 26 per day on average – rumble through the city’s five rail crossings.
And they’d most likely have a simple, unintended typographic error to blame for this affront to their peace and quiet.
The city has long been granted quiet zone status, which means the operators of the railroad passing through the city are exempt from federal requirements to sound their horns at crossings within the corporate limits.
So why is the quiet zone scheduled to lapse? It comes down to this: Someone – most likely a city staff member – made a mistake when recording the date of the city’s deadline to comply with upgraded safety requirements to maintain a quiet zone.
City officials have been scrambling since February when they learned the actual date for compliance was June 24, 2013, not the June 24, 2014, date they believed the city was under to retain the quiet zone, according to City Administrator Kevin Lahner.
“More than likely I’m the one who entered the wrong date on a spreadsheet at some point,” Lahner said, noting he has no way of knowing for sure when or where the mistake was made. “Someone probably typed a four instead of a three.”
But for all attempts of city officials to rise above the mistake, time may run out on them July 1 when a federal order to reinstate the blowing of horns at crossings is scheduled to take effect.
The city has filed for a waiver from the federal requirement, according to Lahner, but a hearing on that request is currently scheduled to occur the week of July 8 – a week or more after the order to resume sounding of horns takes effect.
That means – barring an expedited hearing in favor of the city’s request sometime in the next day or two – city residents living near the tracks should be prepared to rousted from their sleep and interrupted during their business phone calls by the blast of train horns.
And, because of the close proximity of the city’s crossings to each other, it will likely be one long blast from Milwaukee Avenue east to Robert Street (and vice-versa), Lahner said.
In a memo to other city officials regarding the quiet zone, Lahner wrote that losing the designation could have a devastating impact on the city’s downtown.
“The sounding of the train horn would have drastic and immediate impacts on the new restaurants, hotels and retail shops that have recently been developed near the railroad tracks,” Lahner wrote.
On Tuesday, Lahner said he was holding out hope the hearing could be moved up and the horn noise avoided. But, he admitted, he has no handle on what might happen.
“I wish I could predict,” he said. “The FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) has been understanding and helpful, but that’s as far as it goes.”
That is why, he said, people need to be aware of the issue and prepared to hear the train horns.
If the city’s waiver request gets approved the week of July 8 as anticipated, it could mean a little more than a week with the horns sounding. However, Lahner acknowledged the issue could drag on much longer due to separate complications.
At the heart of the city’s request for an exemption from the horn-blowing rules is the safety of its crossings. In order to receive the waiver the city’s crossings must meet certain safety standards as determined by a federal formula.
Lahner said the city had a plan in place to improve safety at three of the crossings, but earlier this year found out that its plan was not the same one the FRA had on file for the city.
Lahner said he’s not sure how that occurred, but he speculated the FRA’s final plan for the city was somehow lost along the way. He said the city had a meeting in 2008 with representatives from the state Railroad Commissioner’s Office and Canadian National, which operates the Wisconsin Central Railroad.
“Everyone involved had the same plan as the city except the FRA,” he said.
Now, in addition to seeking an extension of the quiet zone, the city must also apply to change its crossing improvement plan to meet the FRA’s requirements.
The one sticking point in all of it is that one of the safety improvements includes the installation of quad gates at the Milwaukee Avenue intersection – something that typically takes 12 months lead time for Canadian National to do.
Lahner said it remained to be seen what impact that type of timetable may have on the city’s request for the quiet zone extension.
The greatest concern at the city’s crossings, Lahner said, is cars attempting to drive around the automatic gates that close each time a train approaches.
The FRA’s plan addresses those concerns by requiring installation of medians near the crossings at Jefferson and Adams streets and the quad gate system at Milwaukee Avenue.
Lahner said those were the three most cost-effective ways for the city to remain within the safety standard needed to retain quiet zone status.
He said city crews are poised to move ahead with the median installation as soon as the weather allows. The installation of the quad gate system, however, hinges on Canadian National.
While the issue of the quiet zone extension remains up in the air, Lahner said city residents and business owners have until July 8 to express their support for the extension.
They can do so online by visiting http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=FRA-2013-0039 and clicking on “comment now.”
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A SIMPLE MISTAKE LIKE THIS SHOULD NOT BE MADE BE THE LIKES OF KEVON LAHNER. AND THE PEOPLE OF BULINGTON WILL LIKELY SUFFER THE BLASTS OF TRAIN HORNS DUE TO HIS INCOMPETENCE. TIME OF A PERFORMANCE REVIEW???
Well everyone makes mistakes
When An Important Date /App’t, etc comes up? I just Make a Note 1 week in advance in my Computer to Remind me ahead of time..
In the Old days, Did so On my Calender with a Pen
Happiness is a Back up..
http://www.house.gov/transportation/rail/07-21-05/pickett.pdf Head of railroad signal union to congress (Quad gates)
…The only modification required is the installation of two additional gate mechanisms and a timing device that would allow vehicles to exit the crossing before lowering the gates across the traffic exit lanes….
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&rgn=div5&view=text&node=23:1.0.1.7.27&idno=23#23:1.0.1.7.27.2.1.6
(3) The State and FHWA shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to inspect materials recovered by the railroad prior to disposal by sale or scrap. This requirement will be satisfied by the railroad giving written notice, or oral notice with prompt written confirmation, to the State of the time and place where the materials will be available for inspection. The giving of notice is the responsibility of the railroad, and it may be held accountable for full value of materials disposed of without notice.
How the scam works.
1. Feds trump state train horn laws.
2. Train horns whistle whip people into submission.
3. Railroad comes in and makes a fortune in overcharges and stolen signal equipment (OURS).
4.Somebody (not railroads) has to pay for ridiculous priced liability insurance so railroad is hold harmless.
5.The crossings for GPS crew-less trains hid behind the curtains not a problem for railroads.
6. Warren Buffett starts his 41st vault of silver.
rob pine there are no man-less trains on the canadian national. the people of this town need to realize its their own fault they are getting woken up by the noise. the boardwalk apartments were a joke. they shouldnt have been put that close to an active railroad line. the people that moved in there should deal with the noise if they wanna live by the tracks. its not the railroads fault they live by the tracks.
COME LIVE AT THE BOARDWALK AND LISTEN TO THE TRAIN HORNS WHILE YOU ARE TRYING TO SLEEP.. GREAT MOVE CITY OF BURLINGTON..I KNOW FOR SURE I WILL BE MOVING OUT OF THE BOARDWALK IF THIS CAN NOT BE FIXED. BAD ENOUGH NOW WHEN THEY BLOW THEM AND THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO
there are are times when they can blow such as when they are doing maintainence or in emergency situations when there is someone ont the tracks that shouldn’t be
You see, Jackie, I doubt that Sean (or myself for that matter) would ever live at the Boardwalk simply because of the train tracks. Yes, the City had (note, past tense) procedures in place to make the crossings quiet for a long time. Someone, somewhere, messed up some paperwork and now everyone in the city can hear the trains. You knew those tracks were there when you moved in. If you didn’t know about the volume of trains in this city, you should have done some research. The only reason the trains have been silent is because of the exemption, which was NEVER intended to be permanent. Living in the Boardwalk and complaining about the train noise is like living on a lake and complaining about the noise from the motorboats.
Midnight in Burlington now. That’s a loud train I hear, and I’m on the other side of town.
personally i like having the horns. btowner you are right, if you are gonna live next to the tracks you should deal with the noise or live somewhere else. why should they stop blowing horns just so you can live next to the river.
There goes our quiet little town.
Yeah quiet little town with illegal loud cycles and trucks they let blast around town. At least the train has a legitimate purpose. Cant get to sleep or enjoy an evening even INSIDE much less outside with these noisy idiots all over the place. Where are the police? Podunk city.
Clearly they started blowing their whistles more frequently prior to July 1. I’m exhausted from hearing train whistles all night long. And I live by Gooseberries. I really hope this is resolved soon.
Why are some people so quick to make nasty comments? We ALL make mistakes. I would hate for people to judge our city by what is printed in the comments after these articles. Be kind.
We’re noticing the whistles now because we haven’t heard them in awhile. After awhile we’ll get used to hearing them again and won’t notice them as much.
just move huh..yeah I have an extra 2000 to move dont you guys?
you are so right. we just aren’t used to them. there are people that have houses by the tracks that don’t even notice the horns.
Loud noises — especially at night when most people sleep — are a communitywide nuisance. The horns are unusually loud and sound too often, 24/7. I was awakened around 2 am last week and counted 10+ blasts, from one train, going thru town. To what purpose? All the intersections downtown are gated, and when’s the last time you saw a person on the tracks? No reason for it. Donorcycles? Let’s not go there.
Under the Train Horn Rule (49 CFR Part 222), locomotive engineers must begin to sound train horns at least 15 seconds, and no more than 20 seconds, in advance of all public grade crossings.
If a train is traveling faster than 60 mph, engineers will not sound the horn until it is within ¼ mile of the crossing, even if the advance warning is less than 15 seconds.
There is a “good faith” exception for locations where engineers can’t precisely estimate their arrival at a crossing and begin to sound the horn no more than 25 seconds before arriving at the crossing.
Train horns must be sounded in a standardized pattern of 2 long, 1 short and 1 long blasts. The pattern must be repeated or prolonged until the lead locomotive or lead cab car occupies the grade crossing. The rule does not stipulate the durations of long and short blasts.
The maximum volume level for the train horn is 110 decibels which is a new requirement. The minimum sound level remains 96 decibels.
I agree with Booo – I live in a subdivision by Gooseberries and have been woken up several times over the past few nights. It is not just one or two train horns, it seems almost incessant when a train goes through town. It is ridiculous and rather embarrassing that the city is just like, ‘oh well, someone must have transcribed numbers…’. A mistake like this could potentially cost the city money – not just in having to expedite the process to get us up to code, but in business at our local restaurants, shops and hotel.
I don’t think the issue of the BW Apts. is the train, I believe it is the train whistle. I live on Pine St., and the train whistle is ridiculous! They start about the range of Nestles, and sound the horn until they pass Echo Park.. Several nights, I have counted the whistle blasts…. 26 blasts…..really , is that necessary. It is 5:35pm on Wednesday, the train is passing , and it sounded 12 times. Is that necessary? I have lived on Pine St. ,for 18 yrs., and the train never bothered us. The whistle does!