A reprieve from train noises in Tempe has been three years in the making, but city officials hope to make it a reality by the end of this year.
Three years ago, Tempe residents petitioned the City Council for a quiet zone within city limits, which would exempt trains passing through from the federal requirement to sound a whistle when approaching a crossing.
Their requests may be only six months from being granted, said Marc Pearsall, a Tempe transit planner.
"In May we will respond back to the railroad with a final quiet-zone application," he said. "If they approve it, we hope to have a quiet zone operating by the end of 2008."
In order for a quiet zone to meet federal safety requirements, each crossing in the city must undergo construction to improve lights, signs and gates, among other protective measures, Pearsall said.
Then Union Pacific, the rail line that runs through the city, must sign off on these changes.
"They're open to the whole idea," said Pearsall of the rail line's cooperation. "We've responded with everything they've requested to bring us up to Federal codes."
Melinda Larkin, a communication junior, lives in an apartment complex on Vista del Cerro, one block south of the railroad tracks.
She said she is eager to be rid of the noise and distraction of nightly train whistles.
"It's something I'll never quite be used to," she said. "Sometimes it's hard to study, and sometimes the whistles wake me up since trains go by so much more at night. It will be nice not to deal with that."
Walter Jameson, a Tempe resident, lives about 10 minutes north of Larkin, along College Avenue. He also lives just blocks from a railroad crossing, and he said it's difficult for him and his wife to enjoy their yard in the evenings because of the trains.
"You'll be trying to talk or just relax, and suddenly there will be this screeching whistle," he said. "If they must, they must, but I think it's a damned nuisance, and I'll be glad to have some quiet."
Part of the trouble, Pearsall said, is that Tempe is one of few cities that has tracks running through residential areas.
"We're really heavily densed with housing around the railroad tracks, and I think this is where [the complaining] is coming from," he said. "Most of the complaints are from people who live within half a mile from the railroad tracks."
Some of these residents are getting impatient with what they perceive as a long delay, he said.
"I keep getting calls in here asking me what we've been doing all this time," Pearsall said. "I say we've collected data, and we're really close."
Reach the reporter at: emma.breysse@asu.edu.
