OKC seeks railroad quiet zone downtown...

[TheTravellers]

I agree I bet the retractable bollards are cheaper.

May be, but I just don't see how tearing up a street, putting in mechanical systems with controllers, timers, etc. will be cheaper than putting in 2 extra crossing gates and bolting a bunch of yellow and black poles down the middle of the street for 100 feet at each crossing. Guess we'll have to wait for hard numbers on how much each option costs to know for sure...

[Kerry]

May be, but I just don't see how tearing up a street, putting in mechanical systems with controllers, timers, etc. will be cheaper than putting in 2 extra crossing gates and bolting a bunch of yellow and black poles down the middle of the street for 100 feet at each crossing. Guess we'll have to wait for hard numbers on how much each option costs to know for sure...

I think aesthetics will play a part here.

[bluedogok]

All the old houses north of Edmond Road/2nd St. in Edmond that back up to the tracks--those residents, that I know of, have never brought up the issue (and if they have it's not on any Edmond city agenda that I know of) of horns blowing through there and there's at least 3 street crossings between Edmond Road and Danforth.

I lived in the duplexes between Fretz and the tracks there at Danforth for a year. I was about 5 or so units from Fretz and on the east side of the unit and I never really noticed the horns that much. About the only time that I did was on cold, clear nights and if I didn't have something else on at the time. We hear the trains more now being two blocks from the main N-S line through Austin but they have done the median crossing and made it a quiet zone at night in the past year but that still doesn't do anything about the other noise but for the most part you get used to it.

[OKCisOK4me]

Exactly, you get used to it. You could always buy some noise canceling headphones.

[Jethrol]

Wait....so the horns is what's causing people to not develop those areas? yeah right

[Larry OKC]

Larry, you'll see this happen in the next 2-3 years, this has been a long time coming as Spartan said. It won't be a decade or more.

Are you saying the funds have already been secured from the "unlisted" projects mentioned form the '07 bond issue?

[betts]

Wait....so the horns is what's causing people to not develop those areas? yeah right

I've heard Bert Belanger saying he was waiting for a quiet zone to develop on Broadway at a ULI meeting a couple of years ago. Don't know if that's the only reason he hasn't gone ahead, but he did say it.

Here's a quote from him I found in Steve's blog:

9 – The Quiet Zone (property owners are seeking new gates along the BNSF railroad to quiet train noise as it passes through the Flat Iron district) is a threshold need that must happen first BEFORE any other project Downtown – it is absolutely essential to any private project of scale, and will create incremental value on both sides of the tracks for miles East and West, North and South.

http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2009/07/31/1958/

[Kerry]

Wait....so the horns is what's causing people to not develop those areas? yeah right

I think that is jist of it. Would you buy a condo or move into an apartment next to a heavy use railroad if during the walk-thru a loud train goes by and the realtor says, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."? You would probably think to yourself, I don't want to get used to it.

[TheTravellers]

I think aesthetics will play a part here.

Aesthetics don't always play a part in safety projects, but they probably should. These poles aren't that horrible, but then again I saw them all over the place in IL, so I guess you get used to them. Here's what they look like and they're usually placed in a single line a few feet apart down the middle of the street:

If that's not an option, then something like might still be cheaper than bollards, but would also require tearing up the street:

[Kerry]

Imagine 100 feet of those yellow and black pole on each side of the crossing, for 5 crossings. That is 1,000' of black and yellow poles.

[OKCisOK4me]

I think that is jist of it. Would you buy a condo or move into an apartment next to a heavy use railroad if during the walk-thru a loud train goes by and the realtor says, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."? You would probably think to yourself, I don't want to get used to it.

I eventually got used to not having cable, lol.

[betts]

Regardless of whether most people get used to it or not (I did), most people don't want to think about getting used to it, just as Kerry said. They have no proof they'll get used to it and so it's a risk. The majority of people don't like taking that kind of real estate risk with their money. The quiet zone will help Maywood, and it will help spur development north along the tracks, I believe.

[TheTravellers]

Imagine 100 feet of those yellow and black pole on each side of the crossing, for 5 crossings. That is 1,000' of black and yellow poles.

I don't have to imagine it, I saw them a lot in the different places I've lived. Not sure how many feet on each side of the crossings they were lined up for, but not a big deal, IMO, it's just another part of the streetscape. And it's not like it'll be 1000' of contiguous poles, since we all know it's for 5 different crossings, so I'm not sure why you said that part, unless it was for the cost.

[BoulderSooner]

just an update Heritage Hills at their last neighborhood meeting pledged to contribute $30,000 toward the quiet zone

[RadicalModerate]

Is "Heritage Hills" a "person" who can pledge stuff like money?! (gadzooks!)
(or . . . Is it nothing more than a hatching nest of undercover Torearians?!!
[insert 'sinister/spooky' Theremin arpeggio, followed by orchestra crash with cymbals]

OMG!!! The ThreadNecroed/Current Event Zombie Apocolypse Is At Hand!!!
Run for your lives . . . away from Heritage Hills and the Imaginary Railroad Tracks that offend them!!!

(ya' know . . . i really and, therefore: selfishly, love and admire the examples of olde-tyme architecture that comprise the claim to fame that is labeled: Heritage Hills. i, simply just, have to wonder about the current crop of supposedly "thinking protoplasm" inhabiting those carefully crafted, nearly handmade, boxes . . . =)

[BoulderSooner]

Is "Heritage Hills" a "person" who can pledge stuff like money?! (gadzooks!)
(or . . . Is it a hatching nest of undercover Torearians?!!
[insert Theremin arpeggio followed by orchestra crash with cymbals]

Heritage Hills Historic Neighborhood is the HH nieghborhood association ...

[warreng88]

A years long effort to create a railway quiet zone that would spare downtown residents from being awakened by blaring train horns at 2 a.m. is gaining momentum with a public-private funding proposal set to be submitted next month to the Oklahoma City Council.

The quiet zone, if funded, would block off some scarcely traveled crossings and enhance crossing signals and gates at intersections including NW 10 and NW 13. That would allow train engineers to pass through the crossings without sounding a locomotive's horn.

Read the rest of Steve's article: Railway quiet zone funding proposal set to be pitched to Oklahoma City Council | News OK

[Steve]

As an aside, Warren, I want to thank you and everyone else on this board for the links to my coverage instead of just copying and pasting - it really is important in terms of keeping me employed!

[warreng88]

As an aside, Warren, I want to thank you and everyone else on this board for the links to my coverage instead of just copying and pasting - it really is important in terms of keeping me employed!

Happy to do it Steve. I appreciate all the hard work you put into the articles and especially the chats on Friday mornings. I know those can be challenging with all the repeated questions and questions about Whataburger and Waffle House...

[Just the facts]

It is really amazing how much the railroad breaks up the street grid as it makes it way through OKC (and yes I know the train track was here first). In just 3 miles on the south side it cuts off 29 streets while only providing 8 crossings.

[HangryHippo]

Nice to see some renewed movement on the quiet zone. I wonder if we could get developers to take another look at previous plans if the quiet zone finally gets implemented?

[Plutonic Panda]

As an aside, Warren, I want to thank you and everyone else on this board for the links to my coverage instead of just copying and pasting - it really is important in terms of keeping me employed!

Just curious, does The Oklahoman keep counts on each link how many people view the articles?

[Pete]

I continue to be impressed with Cathy O'Connor and the job she is doing with the Economic Development Trust.

That newly-formed group seems to be operating just as hoped: combining lots of different resources to focus on specific initiatives.

O'Connor seems to be very sharp and a great leader, while also playing the politics needed to get consensus and forward movement.

[Steve]

Just curious, does The Oklahoman keep counts on each link how many people view the articles?

Yes, it does, and it matters greatly to advertisers.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yes, it does, and it matters greatly to advertisers.

So if I clicked on one of your links like 100 times would that count as 100 clicks or would it not count because of my IP?