From the city’s quiet zone information page:
Update: 01/13/2011
The City of Austin submitted the Notice of Establishment (NOE) to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for the railroad crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad at Duval Road on January 12, 2011. This Quiet Zone will be officially in effect on February 2, 2011 (21 days from January 12, 2011).
A quiet zone for this location means that trains will no longer sound their horns as they approach the crossing. This will reduce the noise exposure of homes near the tracks substantially.
Trains have been honking this morning (Feb 2)… right outside my window. Here’s to hoping that it’s just that the memo was late in arriving in the engineers’ hands because of the bad weather. 🙂
Is it possible safety equipment along the line isn’t functioning due to the blackouts?
Good call. Maybe so. Haven’t heard any whistles in a while now… maybe it’s all good. Could be that several trains have gone by and I didn’t notice (I’m so accustomed to the train noises, one going by barely registers anymore). Gonna pay more attention and report back.
Nope. Still whistlin’, tootin’, honkin’.
Maybe over the next couple of weeks they’ll realize they don’t have to anymore.
Trains still making noise…anyway to figure out how to get this enforced?
I would start with the contact information on the City’s quiet-zone information page.
In the wee hours, I heard a train go by with no whistle/horn. Success! This morning I’ve noticed at least one more train go by in “quiet mode”. Woo hoo!
Good news! Thanks for the update.