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According the the Federal Railroad Administration's Final Train Horn Rule dated Aug. 17th, 2006, if a municipality improves all its RR crossings with approved Supplemental Safety Measures or SSMs, it automatically qualifies for a quiet zone. What this means is that the FRA deems the installation of SSMs to be as safe as having trains sound their horns. If we are not able to improve all our crossings with medians, then we have to improve enough of them to reduce our risk to below the national average, and then we also can qualify for a quiet zone. What medians do is make "drive arounds", where the driver changes lanes and then drives through the crossing guard and over the tracks, much more difficult, thereby increasing crossing safety. Fairfield would also have to install new signs that warn of the upcoming crossing and alert drivers that the trains DO NOT sound their horns. Finally, there has to be adequate enforcement and stiff fines for drive arounds, thereby further discouraging this dangerous practice and increasing safety. |
This is a picture of what is for sure going to be the proposed solution to train noise. We are expecting info on pricing for these median strips in the next couple of days, and then want to send out an email giving some idea of the plan, and referring people to this site.
"I got quote on the other median system sold in the US, there are only 2 that I know of. This is the fancier model. "
They show a slightly different setup, and give a nice close up of how narrow the medians are. If the road has the double yellow lines, they fit in between.
These pictures are from quiet zones established in Wisconsin with medians made by Qwick Kurb."