The Courier News reported last week that The Hillsborough Township Committee was moving forward with plans to establish railroad quiet zones at four grade crossings on the Norfolk Southern rail line. The grade crossings affected are at Beekman Lane, Auten Road, Valley Road, and Roycefield Road. I commented previously on this plan here.
This sounds like a good plan - residents have complained about the sound of the horns, "quiet zones" are an established program of the Federal Railroad Administration, and developer contributions to this project will defray some of the cost.
The troublesome part of this plan is that it addresses only one of the issues with grade crossings - noise. There are at least four other problems that won't be solved by quiet zones.
The first of these is the simple fact that grade crossings are not safe. USA Today reported last week that there were 368 deaths at railroad grade crossings last year. And let's be perfectly honest - eliminating the train horns makes crossings more dangerous. That's why it is necessary to install median barriers and other improvements on the approaching roads. If we really wanted safety, we would construct the improvements AND allow the trains to sound their horns. The construction of the improvements allow us to eliminate the horns and maintain the status quo on safety, not improve it.
The second problem is increasing automobile traffic. Auten Road and Beekman Lane are already backed up at rush hour if a train is passing, and this can only get worse - especially as Auten Road continues to become the "people's bypass", in place of the un-built Route 206.
The third issue is railroad traffic. The railroads generally look for ways to increase capacity and improve efficiency. Two of the ways they accomplish this are by constructing passing sidings and second tracks, and by improving signalling - allowing trains to run faster. But extra caution is always needed at grade crossings - thus slowing the trains back down.
The fourth problem may be the most serious - stalled or stopped trains. The four grade crossings on the Norfolk Southern line are all within 2 miles of each other. A stalled train of sufficient length can easily block two or even three crossings. This not only brings cars to a stop, but also forces emergency vehicles to find alternate routes - detours that could cost lives.
So - while I am in favor of proceeding with the "quiet zones", we should acknowledge that there is more to grade crossings than just noise. And that maybe the quiet zones should only be the first step in a more ambitious plan...
Hopefully
ReplyDeleteThe person approaching the train crossing won’t be dialing a number on their cell phone, reading a txt message on their cell phone or worst writing a txt message. Let’s hope too they are not reading or writing an e-mail, playing a game, just trying to figure out how to get track 7 on disk 3 to play in their CD player, adjusting the equalizer on their MP-3 Player, or asking the GPS where there might be a store to buy even more distractions to put in there car.
Boy and to think back in the day we were terrified by women putting on make-up or guys shaving as the drove pasted.