Establishing a Quiet Zone at the Alma train crossing in Palo Alto
- by: Zouhair Mahboubi
- recipient: City of Palo Alto
Train horn noise is a significant community issue. The required 96-110dB levels is very loud, and with freight trains running throughout the night, many residents struggle with sleep.
The City of Palo Alto could establish a Quiet Zone at the Alma crossing without any construction, and no additional liability, since the crossing is already equipped with approved Safety Measures as outlined by the Federal Railway Authority.
This would greatly improve the quality of life by reducing noise pollution in Palo Alto, while still providing a safe crossing and at no significant cost to the City.
Please join me in urging Palo Alto City to take the necessary steps to establish a Quiet Zone.
More detailed information is available in the following Google Doc presentation
Request for Palo Alto City and City Staff to Move Forward with the Implementation of a Quiet Zone at the Alma train crossing as per “Section III: Creating a New Quiet Zone Using SSMs” of the Federal Railway Authority (FRA) procedures.
To: Palo Alto City Manager, City Staff, Mayor and City Council
By signing this instrument, I agree and represent that I have read, understand and agree with all of the foregoing statements:
- Train horn noise (96-110dB) is a significant community issue for Palo Alto residents; especially at night when ambient noise is lower and people are trying to sleep,
- Although the blowing of the train horn is mandated by the FRA, the law provides for communities seeking relief from train horn noise to apply for exceptions by establishing “quiet zones”,
- Localities desiring to establish a quiet zone are first required to mitigate the increased risk caused by the absence of a horn. This can be accomplished by the establishment of Supplementary Safety Measures (SSMs),
- The Alma crossing in Palo Alto is already equipped with an FRA approved SSM (Gates with medians) and thus is eligible for Quiet Zone status without any additional construction,
- The establishment of a Quiet Zone does not increase the city’s liability in case of an accident. This is made clear by the FRA Brochure on Quiet Zone, FRA Staff director, City of Rocklin Quiet Zone Information and Hillsborough Quiet Zone Feasibility Study,
- Given the aforementioned facts, we urge the City Manager, City Staff, Mayor and the Palo Alto City council to pursue the task of establishing a Quiet Zone at the Alma crossing.
More details about each one of these statements can be found in this presentation about the establishment of a Quiet Zone at the Alma crossing in Palo Alto.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
A link to the staff report: www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/45680
The report does not make any recommendations and is only a starting point for the discussion. The meeting is open to the public, and this is your opportunity to make your voice heard to the newly elected council! I hope to see many of you there.
Sincerely,
-Z
On one hand it's unfortunate to see that so many of you are affected by this, but on the other hand this has encouraged me to keep pursuing the issue.
I just wanted to let you know that we are planning on attending the Palo Alto Council Meeting on Monday 20th at 7pm to present the petition to the council members and urge them to look into this. Feel free to attend if you would like to personally make your case to the council.
Thanks again for your support.
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