MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com)- They're noisy, irritating and you never quite get used to them. Right now train engineers are required to sound horns when going through a railroad crossing.
But Memphis is one step closer to changing that. Today researchers met with the mayor about setting up quiet zones at railroad crossings. The zones would keep the blaring horns to a minimum.
“The train itself doesn't bother me,” Lyndel Parks said.
It's the blaring, ear drum pounding, watch-out-cause-I'm-coming, horn that does.
“It is annoying especially if you're in the backyard,” Parks said.
Or in front of the house giving an interview.
“Once you live in this area for a while you notice it for the first couple of weeks...then you kind of don't hear it anymore,” Tony Ludlow said.
Key phrase: "Kind of". Bottom line, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who wants to hear the blaring horn every time a train goes by a crossing.
Well for the horn weary, help could be on the way.
Researchers from the U of M are studying the impact of making a nine mile stretch in Memphis a "quiet zone", where engineers have no legal duty to sound the horn.
To set up a quiet zone at a railroad crossing, the City of Memphis would have to build a median on both sides of the tracks, set up a four gate quadrant system, or shut down a crossing all together and build an overpass. That however would cost a fortune.
One researcher says the cost of setting up quiet zones over that nine mile stretch would cost between $3 to $5 million.
The trade off: relative peace and quiet whenever the train goes by, which in turn means higher property values.
