[FairfieldLife] Re: Train Noise in Fairfield
Title: Re: Train Noise in Fairfield Bill, I'm for a solution. Dick From: Bill Blackmore mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 08/11/06 16:41:32 To: Undisclosed-Recipient:,@franklin.lisco.com Subject: Train Noise in Fairfield Dear Friends, I hope you will not mind me emailing you about an issue that I think needs to be revisited by our City Council. If this does not interest you, simply do not respond or let me know and I'll make sure you don't get anymore emails from me about this matter. I am sending this to friends and acquaintances that I believe either live or work near the tracks or are likely to support a better and quieter quality of life near the train tracks. I want to give you the short history of the recent debate about train noise in Fairfield. (This is 100% about the train whistles or horns, not the train and train tracks themselves). I think this will be useful, since I didn't know this myself until Mayor Malloy filled me in recently. A couple of years ago (give or take a little) some local residents asked the City Council to consider a solution that would have allowed trains to pass through Ff. without honking. There was quite a debate, letters to the Editor, etc., and in the final analysis the Council members decided based on the feedback that they got that the community was opposed to implementing a solution of this sort. The figure I heard was that calls against a solution ran 5-1 to those in favor. I have been told in no uncertain terms that because of this, the issue cannot be successfully raised again with the current Council. So what is the point here? I don't know this for sure, but I am quite convinced that our Council members did not get all that many calls, although I am sure they got more against than for. My guess is that those of us who pay more attention to quality of life issues simply got outhustled by someone with a town vs. gown axe to grind. Somebody organized some like-minded individuals, and they made a lot of calls, and the other side didn't. End of story. Personally, I do not believe that this issue is so lopsided. Also, now that our Civic Center is under construction in close proximity to the tracks and slated to open late next year, there is another basis on which to raise the issue of the train noise. I don't like seeing something that I have wanted to see happen for the entire time I have lived in Ff. get shelved, especially since it was not going to cost taxpayers a dime. (I believe this is correct, but am in the process of verifying for sure). What am I asking you to do? Right now its very simple. I am making an email list of residents of Ff. who want to see the train whistles silenced once and for all. To put your name on this list, simply send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (quiet trains). If you know anyone who you think would support an initiative of this sort, please forward this email to them so they can opt in if they want to do so. Once this list reaches critical mass, we will unleash a campaign of letters and emails to our City Council members to convince them that the time has come for the train whistles to be silenced. I don't think this will happen in the next month or so, as timing is critical. I am finding out what sort of call volume the Council members got last time around, so we will have a basis on which to guage the level of support required. Thanks for your time and attention. Regards, Bill Blackmore __._,_.___ To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. __,_._,___
[FairfieldLife] Re: Train Noise in Fairfield
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Alex Stanley j_alexander_stanley@ wrote: On a few evenings a while back, I teleconferenced into the Wednesday satsang that Tom Traynor hosted. I couldn't hear what most of the people in the room were saying, but when a train passed outside, I could hear the long-long-short-long blast that trains give as they approach crossings. Train noise, in general can be serious, and if they are electric, the EMF voltages are an issue. Recently, in London, someone did a study of children's school performance using kids from a particular tower block. They discovered that all the kids on the side nearest the tracks had consistenly lower performance than those on the side away from the rails. This puzzled them since sleep problems did not seem to be an issue. They ran various tests, and discovered that the children on the train side had the ability to switch off sound at will. They did not know it, but they could. They simply did not hear sounds that they did not like. The researchers then discovered that these kids could, and did switch off the sound of the teacher's voice when they were bored with the class. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[FairfieldLife] Re: Train Noise in Fairfield
From: Bill Blackmore [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:41:28 -0500 A couple of years ago (give or take a little) some local residents asked the City Council to consider a solution that would have allowed trains to pass through Ff. without honking. On a few evenings a while back, I teleconferenced into the Wednesday satsang that Tom Traynor hosted. I couldn't hear what most of the people in the room were saying, but when a train passed outside, I could hear the long-long-short-long blast that trains give as they approach crossings. That sound cue put me in Fairfield as nothing else could. The call was worth it, just for that. As far as Bill Blackmore's proposal goes, seems to me it would put lives at risk. This may be one of those instances where majority rule can't apply, if indeed the majority feels this way. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[FairfieldLife] Re: Train Noise in Fairfield
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Patrick Gillam [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Bill Blackmore bblackmore@ Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:41:28 -0500 A couple of years ago (give or take a little) some local residents asked the City Council to consider a solution that would have allowed trains to pass through Ff. without honking. On a few evenings a while back, I teleconferenced into the Wednesday satsang that Tom Traynor hosted. I couldn't hear what most of the people in the room were saying, but when a train passed outside, I could hear the long-long-short-long blast that trains give as they approach crossings. That sound cue put me in Fairfield as nothing else could. The call was worth it, just for that. As far as Bill Blackmore's proposal goes, seems to me it would put lives at risk. This may be one of those instances where majority rule can't apply, if indeed the majority feels this way. My recollection from the last time this issue came up is that horn blowing is on a crossing by crossing basis and that in order for a crossing to be horn-free, it either has to be permanently closed or have double gates installed so that vehicles can't drive around the gate and over the tracks. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[FairfieldLife] Re: Train Noise in Fairfield
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Alex Stanley [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Patrick Gillam jpgillam@ wrote: From: Bill Blackmore bblackmore@ Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 16:41:28 -0500 A couple of years ago (give or take a little) some local residents asked the City Council to consider a solution that would have allowed trains to pass through Ff. without honking. On a few evenings a while back, I teleconferenced into the Wednesday satsang that Tom Traynor hosted. I couldn't hear what most of the people in the room were saying, but when a train passed outside, I could hear the long-long-short-long blast that trains give as they approach crossings. That sound cue put me in Fairfield as nothing else could. The call was worth it, just for that. As far as Bill Blackmore's proposal goes, seems to me it would put lives at risk. This may be one of those instances where majority rule can't apply, if indeed the majority feels this way. My recollection from the last time this issue came up is that horn blowing is on a crossing by crossing basis and that in order for a crossing to be horn-free, it either has to be permanently closed or have double gates installed so that vehicles can't drive around the gate and over the tracks. ** City council nixes quiet zone by 5-2 vote By Erik Gable, Ledger assistant news editor06/15/2004 Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly The Fairfield City Council voted Monday night not to pursue the possibility of declaring Fairfield a quiet zone where train whistles would only be allowed to blow in emergencies. Citing the cost and inconvenience of closing some of Fairfield's crossings, which would be necessary in order to improve Fairfield's safety rating to the point where the Federal Railroad Administration would allow a quiet zone, the council's public safety committee recommended against pursuing the matter further. Councilman John Revolinski said the obstacles were not as insurmountable as the public safety committee made them out to be, and said some of the information presented at past council meetings as reasons not to pursue a quiet zone turned out to be inaccurate. The final vote was 5-2 to drop all further discussion of the train whistles, with Revolinski and councilwoman Christy Welty dissenting. The Federal Railroad Administration had presented Fairfield with two options for creating a quiet zone. Both options involved closing Eighth, Third and Court streets. The first option, which had an initial estimated cost of $103,338, also called for raised medians on five streets. The other, with an initial estimated cost of $33,785, called for raised medians on two streets and one-way traffic on Ninth, Main and B streets. Councilwoman Connie Boyer said about 60 percent of the phone calls she received about the issue were from people in favor of keeping the train whistle. Welty said the phone calls she received were 5-to-1 in favor of eliminating the whistle. Councilwoman Pauline Reeder, who chairs the public safety committee, said closing crossings would inconvenience people and interfere with the city's attempts to figure out the best way to have traffic flow through town. The tracks are crossed at Court Street an estimated 600 times per day, at Eighth Street about 400 times per day and at Third Street about 350 times per day. You're changing people's lifestyles by telling them they can't go on Court Street, Reeder said. It does change people's lifestyle, and it also changes their lifestyle not to get woken up in the middle of the night by the train horns, Revolinski responded. For a complete story, read Tuesday's Fairfield Ledger. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Train Noise in Fairfield
Typical roo cry-babies. Maybe if they got off their butts and did some honest work for a change, they wouldn't have so much trouble sleeping at night. Sal On Aug 18, 2006, at 10:27 PM, bob_brigante wrote: You're changing people's lifestyles by telling them they can't go on Court Street, Reeder said. It does change people's lifestyle, and it also changes their lifestyle not to get woken up in the middle of the night by the train horns, Revolinski responded. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
