As a new resident of Fort Collins last August, I was thrilled with my new home in northern Colorado, ... and then a train rolled past my apartment in the wonderfully vibrant Old Town neighborhood, and I felt like my head was going to explode.
In case you are unaware, train horns blast at a rate of 100-110 decibels, which is far beyond any safe level for human ears. In downtown Fort Collins, the railroad crosses a 1.7 stretch with a dozen intersections, and the DOT mandates repeated horn blasts as the train passes numerous residential units. My own residence was less than forty feet from the tracks -- a situation that is nothing short of clueless and more likely negligent for city leaders and zoning officials. On my second night in Fort Collins, my wife and I were jarred from sleep by 100+decibel train horns at 11:20PM, 12:20AM, and 4:20AM. When we began testing the noise, we had decibel meters that were showing levels at 110 db inside our apartment and nearly 140 db on the balcony outside.
By the time we moved to a new apartment a month later, I had become well-versed in the policies and politics of trains and the federal train horn rule. And the whole thing still mystifies me. Specifically because residential areas can seek relief from the rules, but it's up to the whim of the Federal Railway Administration.
In 2015 the City of Fort Collins applied to the Department of Transportation for a waiver from the train horn rules to establish a quiet zone in a residential area. The city presented a well-researched and supported proposal, asserting the requirement for train horns was unnecessary. The DOT bluntly and summarily dismissed and rejected the waiver, stating the request and conditions were "not consistent with railroad safety." But what about the safety of the hearing and health of residents forced to endure dangerous decibel levels, with no knowledge of when a train will pass
While the city of Fort Collins submitted a rebuttal in 2016, there has clearly been no progress or resolution of this issue. Just for perspective on "decibel levels," I've learned that a released 2005 government memo on the CIA interrogation program at Guantanamo Bay established that in detention, the use of "loud sounds" would not exceed 79 decibels. So, as you can imagine, I am quite astounded that the DOT would mandate train horn blasts of 100+ decibels within feet of American citizens' residences.
In 2015 the City of Fort Collins applied to the Department of Transportation for a waiver from the train horn rules to establish a quiet zone in a residential area. The city presented a well-researched and supported proposal, asserting the requirement for train horns was unnecessary. The DOT bluntly and summarily dismissed and rejected the waiver, stating the request and conditions were "not consistent with railroad safety." But what about the safety of the hearing and health of residents forced to endure dangerous decibel levels, with no knowledge of when a train will pass
While the city of Fort Collins submitted a rebuttal in 2016, there has clearly been no progress or resolution of this issue. Just for perspective on "decibel levels," I've learned that a released 2005 government memo on the CIA interrogation program at Guantanamo Bay established that in detention, the use of "loud sounds" would not exceed 79 decibels. So, as you can imagine, I am quite astounded that the DOT would mandate train horn blasts of 100+ decibels within feet of American citizens' residences.
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