Wed Feb 22 2012
by Jeff Saunders
Reporter
Macedonia -- The sound of trains at a rail crossing on the south side of town should fade into memory this winter.
A railroad quiet zone at the Norfolk Southern Railroad crossing on Twinsburg Road near the Hudson border is nearly complete.
However, those who want the train horns silenced will have to wait until at least late January due to federal deadlines for community notification and comments, according to Hudson resident Greg McNeil.
Representatives from Norfolk Southern Railroad could not be reached for comment by press time.
McNeil, who heads a residents' group that has been pushing for the quiet zone, said the railroad informed him it should have new gates and signal upgrades installed by early November.
The quiet zone improvements are being paid for with a $168,000 federal stimulus grant that McNeil applied for on behalf of the city of Macedonia.
Macedonia's share is about $11,000 for a contractor to install a mid-road barrier to keep cars from going around the railroad gates.
According to Service Director Jim Crevar, the barrier consists of posts down the center of the road and should be installed by early November. Crevar said the west side was completed in early October.
McNeil said that once the work is done, a 60-day comment period will begin. The comment period gives various agencies involved in the project the chance to offer final opinions. Those agencies include Norfolk Southern, the Ohio Rail Development Commission, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the Federal Railroad Administration.
"They can look it over, at what's been done, the plans, and if there's any comment, that's when they would do it," said McNeil.
After that, he said, there is a 21-day notification period required by the FRA, he said.
Rob Kulat, a spokesperson for the FRA, said the notification period is a formality, during which the city must send a notice of establishment of a quiet zone to the FRA.
"We just look at it to make sure it's been done properly," he said, adding that it is rare for a project to be halted at this stage.
Once operational, trains will no longer need to sound their horns when approaching the crossing, except in an emergency.
The new electronic controls are meant to stop traffic the same amount of time before trains arrives, no matter how fast they are traveling.
Area residents have complained in recent years of increased train traffic and train horns, particularly at night.
According to an April 2008 train count by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, 70 trains crossed the road in one day, about half of them at night.
Five homeowner associations representing hundreds of Macedonia, Hudson and Northfield Center residents, as well as two residential developers, have pledged to pay an annual railroad maintenance fee through 2026.
E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169
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