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Residents living near railways want county cash used to silence train whistles, create ‘quiet-zone’
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A CSX freight train passes through a residential area at Talbot Avenue in Silver Spring on Thursday. The Montgomery County Council is considering banning train whistles along portions of train track in the county. Sleepless neighbors have been pushing the issue for six years.
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - After making enough noise to get the Montgomery County Council’s attention, whistle-weary homeowners who live near railways might finally sleep in silence.
Residents in the Forest Glen area, near tracks used for freight, Amtrak and MARC trains, want the council to apply for a “quiet-zone” exception to the federal law requiring trains whistle a warning as they approach major road crossings. On Thursday, the Council heard representatives from railway companies and various state and local authorities discuss possible solutions.
To qualify for the exception, the county would need to come up with money for additional safety measures such as road medians to stop deviant drivers from snaking through crossing gates.
Joe Rosenberg, president of the Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association, has been fighting since 2001 to silence the 56 “deafening” whistles he says hears each day, claiming they keep him from hosting parties and sleeping with the windows open.
“It’s very disruptive to quality of life,” Rosenberg said.
Robert Herstein, director of railroad issues for Maryland’s Department of Transportation, said it’s a safety issue. Whistles, he said, are safest and most effective.
“If they save somebody’s kid, it’s hard to get excited about somebody’s discomfort,” he said.
Nationwide, 2,927 highway-rail collisions resulted in 292 deaths in 2006, according to Federal Railroad Administration statistics.
Councilwoman Nancy Floreen organized the Rockville hearing after years of noise complaints dating from her time as mayor of Kensington. “But people get killed. That’s the problem. We don’t want that to happen,” she said.
Rosenberg said his research his on the viability of quieter measures has fallen on deaf ears at Herstein’s agency. “I was told by the state highway administration that they’re waiting for me to die or move away,” he said.
Herstein wasn’t biting: “While I may have thought it, I never said it.”
lfabel@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:09 AM MST on Thu., May. 1, 2008 re: "Residents living near railways want county cash used to silence train whistles, create ‘quiet-zone’"
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8:59 AM MST on Mon., Feb. 18, 2008
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11:52 AM MST on Fri., Jan. 25, 2008
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Examiner Reader said:
What you don't understand is - trains whistles had not been a problem for 100 years! Now the Fed. government has gotten involved and has mandated that they blow at over 92 decibles at EVERY crossing. Just a toot is not a problem, but in our small town we NOW can't visit while sitting on the porch and have to turn up the t.v. to hear it if any windows are open......and we live over 3 BLOCKS away from the tracks. We have lived in this house 40 years, coexisting with the train traffic with no problem up til the FED GOV got involved. Nobody should tell us we have to move - the government needs to get out and let us go back to the way it was!
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Examiner Reader said:
First complain to the law enforment to get the idiots from walking the tracks, then you can complain about your comfort. Theres more important issues for the county to worry about then you not being smart enough to know, if you buy a house near the train tracks, expect to hear a train.
28 agree | 31 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
B&O Metropolitan Branch opened in 1873. You bought your house ... when?
40 agree | 46 disagree
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