Politics & Government
Train Horns Are Back for Now, and Some Want to Keep Them
Federal processing of Wauwatosa's application to extend 'quiet zone' fails to register in time, and a public safety expert says it should stay that way.
If you've been hearing train horns lately that you've not heard before, or not nearly so often, get used to it at least for awhile.
Wauwatosa's train "quiet zone," or the "train horn ban" as it's often called, was rescinded by the Federal Railroad Administration as of midnight last Monday, June 24, and City Attorney Alan Kesner said it may be weeks or months before it can be reinstated – if it is reinstated.
The rescision of the ban means that train crews are now required to blow two long, one short, and one more long blast of their horns at every level-grade crossing in the city.
Kesner said the ban was lifted because federal administrators did not process a waiver allowing it to continue, even though the city had installed the safety features required to extend it, and had filed reports showing compliance before the federal deadline.
Kesner said an FRA regional official has already been to Wauwatosa to inspect crossings and that an application and petition for reinstatement has been filed.
However, a Wauwatosa safety expert believes reinstatement may not come so easily – and shouldn't.
Former Wauwatosa Assistant Fire Chief Mike Anton firmly believes that train horns should be required, as more and more trains pass through our ever more bustling city – especially the Village crossing.
What's more, he said Monday, federal officials may be taking a closer look at Wauwatosa and could require far more of the city in crossing upgrades than have been installed.
Boy's death prompted retired fire official to act
In 2008, Anton, then a chief Fire Department officer, submitted a report to the city on train crossing safety that found Wauwatosa wanting in public safety and recommending enhancements and a reconsideration of the horn ban.
Last year, after 11-year-old Joey Kramer was struck and killed by a train at the 68th Street crossing, Anton, then retired, resubmitted his report, and said that many of his original recommendations had not been instated.
"I always said it was only a matter of time before someone was killed, well before Joey Kramer died," Anton said.
Anton said Monday that a high-level railroad industry source, whose name and credentials he was not at liberty to divulge but whose area of operations includes Wauwatosa, had told him that the FRA was taking a close look at the city's crossings and might be inclined to hold it to a higher standard.
"What I'm hearing," Anton said, "is there may be an opportunity here to examine Wauwatosa's crossings as a city with a long-standing, grandfathered quiet zone, and measure them against present-day standards, such as would be required of a city installing crossings that had never existed before.
"Those standards are higher – what you would call a gold standard – and they would likely cost millions of dollars to implement."
Anton sent a letter to Tammy Wagner, the FRA regional crossing manager based in Chicago who was in Wauwatosa last week to inspect city crossings, in which he asked for public clarification sooner rather than later on how Wauwatosa's crossings were being assessed.
He wrote that he intended to bring the matter to the public and hoped Wagner would be candid about the FRA's intentions so that, he told Patch, "there would be no mystery about what the federal administration is looking at and looking for" from the city.
City's stance is to reinstate the horn ban
For its part, the city says it wants the horn ban reinstated. An official statement released Monday said, "The City of Wauwatosa has been committed to continuing the quiet zone status for its railway crossings and improving safety at the crossings."
Kesner said an example of the type of upgrades the city has installed could be seen at crossings such as on 63rd Street at State Street, where a raised divider keeps drivers from possibly going around and through lowered crossing gates.
After Joey Kramer's death – he was struck Feb. 27, 2012, crossing the 68th Street tracks while wearing earbuds and listening to music with his sweatshirt hood up – signs and sidewalk decals were installed to warn pedestrians to watch for trains.
Find out what's happening in Wauwatosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
With those and other upgrades, the city believes it has met the newest federal and state standards required of it to continue the quiet zone.
Anton sees a heavy irony in all that – taxpayer money is spent on continual upgrades of technology and infrastructure that are only incrementally effective in replacing the oldest, most obvious and most effective of all devices – the horn, direct descendent of the whistle.
Find out what's happening in Wauwatosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"If you think these warnings are important," Anton said, "well, the warning has to be there. They've taken the train horn away. You've taken away the one thing that will most likely prevent an accident."
"Sure, these measures we're taking make the city look like it is doing what needs to be done to keep the quiet zone in place," Anton said. "But are we protecting the public?
"The answer is no. Not even close."
More trains in a busier place
Anton is also adamant that the danger is growing every day from both sides.
"There are more trains all the time – now at 30 a day," Anton said. "The Canadian Pacific has been very successful in building its business between Chicago and Minneapolis, and it is increasing traffic that way.
"In the meantime, Wauwatosa Village has been attracting more and more people, in cars, on foot, on bikes – it has to rank in the top five of the busiest places in the metro area – and Hart Park, with its new playground, is also an attraction to more traffic and, of course, children.
"There are five crossings within a mile" from 63rd Street to Harwood in the Village proper, Anton said – a concentration that is bound to lead to trouble amid so much activity, if train horns are not required.
Horns offer safety – and 'atmosphere'
Anton is not alone in his beliefs.
Stacey Bemowski, manager of Cafe Hollander, where patrons indoors and out may be seated within 10 yards of sounding, pounding trains, said it doesn't hurt business and may even help.
"I think the horns help the atmosphere around Wauwatosa Village," Bemowski said. "The kids really like it when they're dining here, the guests really like it. I think it's kind of a fun thing for our Village to have."
What's more, Bemowski believes train horns, especially from the east as crews sound them over and over at multiple crossings coming ever closer, do contribute to safety in the Village.
"You can hear them coming," she said. "You know it's there. That's got to be better. That's safer for everyone."
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Tomorrow in Wauwatosa Patch: Would having train horns have saved Joey Kramer's life? Retired firefighter Mike Anton says it might well have.
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