HURON - Is a local government on track to silence noisy trains constantly barreling through a community?
Huron officials recently began a planning process to establish what's known as a quiet zone pertaining to trains.
From east to west, a set of rail lines cuts through the center portion of Huron, which includes crossing over its central business district and by various neighborhoods.
Each time a train approaches a railroad crossing, federal law mandates engineers blare their horns - as they do each time when entering Huron. This alerts oncoming traffic of a train's looming presence.
Local governments, however, can go through a process to effectively receive a waiver, shushing these loud locomotives.
If obtained in Huron, it would:
• Prohibit trains zipping through the city from sounding their horns unless in an emergency situation
• Apply, specifically, to five city intersections with a railroad crossing in place today: Rye Beach Road, Williams Street, Main Street, River Road and Berlin Road.
This plan would likely draw inspiration from Vermilion, which established a quiet zone for trains in 2010.
Many factors - such as a potential cost, funding source and timeline for potential implementation - remain unknown.
Huron city manager Matt Lasko talked more about this preliminary process:
• The status: "Council gave us the green light (for staff) to come back with recommendations for how we would improve each intersection so we ultimately could have a quiet zone throughout the city."
• The work ahead: "Staff is coming back with recommendations as to how to improve each intersection so that we can qualify for a quiet zone designation. But we have to do certain things at intersections to meet the requirements."
• The requirements: "It could be anything from closing intersections, which is on the extreme end, to making enhancements to crossings themselves. For instance, instead of having two gates at each intersection, you would have four gates, which make it impossible for cars to go through the intersection or crossing when a train is coming."
• The reason: "At its most basic level, the noise itself could be a hindrance for people living here and people who are trying to enjoy eating or frequenting one of our shops on Main Street."
• The safety factor: "More importantly, the enhancements at each intersection are intended to significantly reduce pedestrian or vehicle accidents with trains passing through town. This won't be an outright ban on horns but will significantly reduce train noise coming through town. They can still blow their horns if they feel it's warranted to alert the community."