Oregon town left holding train-noise bag
TUALATIN, Ore. – After a meeting with Federal Railroad Administration and Portland & Western officials last week, just one thing is certain for Tualatin: The city will have to pay for noise mitigation associated with the 32-trip-a-day Westside Express Service, the Tigard Times reports.
Concerns about the impending September opening of WES, a $117.3 million, 14.7-mile commuter rail service that will run between the cities of Beaverton and Wilsonville, has already started ringing in city councilors’ ears. City officials have spent the last few months looking into ways to decrease the possible impact of train horn noise in Tualatin neighborhoods.

Staff is looking closely at two options – quiet zones and wayside horns. Quiet zones are established intersections where trains are not required to sound their horns. Wayside horns are stationary horn systems that according to one expert can reduce train horn noise by 98 percent.

In October a staff report noted that the establishment of quiet zones or wayside horns at seven railroad crossings in Tualatin could cost about $600,000.

And according to City Engineer Mike McKillip, “There’s no question of who’s going to pay for it. That would be us (the city of Tualatin).”

Discussions in October with TriMet representatives were the first indication that Tualatin may be all alone when it comes to noise mitigation for WES.

TriMet officials noted that Tualatin was at that time the only city whose residents had expressed concern about train noise. And an interpretation of case law had TriMet officials confident that the commuter rail project would not be responsible for funding or providing any noise mitigation once federal funding for the project had been dispersed.

Then, at the Jan. 23 meeting with railroad officials, McKillip said that Portland & Western representatives were opposed to both quiet zones and stationary horns.

McKillip said the railroad officials didn’t want to compromise their tried-and-true safety measures for railroad crossings. He also noted the railroad officials were not interested in sharing the costs for establishing quiet zones or wayside horns.

“They have a system that works, and any changes would solely benefit (the city),” said McKillip.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation Rail Division, there are no established quiet zones or utilization of wayside horns at any railroad crossing in Oregon. But ODOT rail crossing compliance specialist Chuck Gilbert did note that a few quiet zones are under development.

The Federal Railroad Administration requires trains to blow their horns as they approach railroad crossings. A quiet zone, an intersection where trains are not required to blow their horns, can be established with the installation of four-quadrant gates or gates with channelized devices.

The wayside horn option also removes the need for a train to toot a horn and instead has a permanent horn at the intersection, which emits a sound.

City staff is expected to continue to research both options and bring back a final report to the City Council in March.

On Monday night, Tualatin City Council President Ed Truax called attention to the train-horn noise presentation to the audience watching at home.

Truax said he wanted to make sure people knew that the city had been and was continuing to work of the issue of noise mitigation for the commuter rail.

(This item appeared Jan. 31, 2008, in the Tigard Times.)

We need quiet zones and wayside horns here in North Portland, along Columbia Boulevard.

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