They hear a train a comin, it’s coming down the tracks…

As we posted to this site earlier this week, west side residents have taken their case for a quieter neighbourhood to city council. At Monday evening’s council meeting, a delegation of area residents presented a petition for consideration to have an anti whistling bylaw enacted for the Fairview rail yard area.

A number of residents of the Atlin Street/Graham Avenue area have expressed their concerns over the rather zealous nature of CN engineers to blow their whistles while transiting from the rail yards to the Fairview Container Terminal.

While stressing that they don’t mean to interfere with safety measures, they are however seeking relief from the whistling trains that can carry on their work late into the night.

The local bulletin board hackingthemainframe has carried on a lively debate over the issue. Some paticipants have taken the side of the beleaguered residents, while others tend to remind those of the area that the train tracks have been there a fairly long time now, so they knew that they lived in a quasi industrial area when they moved into the area. Those who tend to have their feelings hurt easily may wish to take a pass on the viewing...

You can sample some of that debate by clicking to the link here.

The Daily News featured the controversy as a front page story in Wednesday’s paper.

SLEEP-STARVED RESIDENTS TURN ON WHISTLE-BLOWERS

By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Page one

Residents in the city's west end want CN's engineers to lay off the horn when they are coming into the Fairview area.

And they say that need not mean safety is compromised.

A delegation attended Prince Rupert city council Monday night, saying people have been losing sleep and alleging some train conductors were blowing their whistles upwards of 20 times when entering the Fairview Area. And the group said whistling trains were make noise deep into the night.

"The noise of the engine whistles being sounded at all hours on the waterfront has become a serious irritant for the residents of Graham Avenue, Atlin Avenue and the surrounding areas for some time now," said Brian Denton, who spoke on behalf of the group.

"These excessive, loud and frequent whistles often cause the interruption of sleep and influence the ability of residents to function in their everyday lives."

While the residents said they welcome the growth that has been brought about by the expansion of the Fairview Terminal, the city needs to have a discussion with CN about ways to maintain safety levels without keeping the entire neighbourhood awake all night.

While there may be costs associated with changing rail crossings to include traffic control devices such as automated gates and flashing lights, Denton reminded the city that the Port of Prince Rupert, in its environmental assessment for the project, claimed that trains would not be crossing into town and there would be minimal noise impacts from the development.

"CNR, as a federally regulated railway, is under federal jurisdiction and Transport Canada has a program to provide financial assistance for eligible crossing upgrades," he said.

In addition, other cities have adopted anti-whistling bylaws.

City councillors agreed that they would start a conversation with CN and Maher Terminals about the issue and consider moving toward an anti-whistling bylaw.

Doug Jay, the city's corporate administrator, explained that the city will have to go through a process to petition CN and the Ministry of Transportation to eliminate whistling at public crossings.

"The general concept under this process is that the municipality, together with the railway and other authorities, work toward an agreement whereby the crossings can be designed in such a manner as to allow for the elimination of whistling," said Jay in his report.

The Fairview Container Terminal opened this October and prior to that, there has been little rail traffic moving to and from the break-bulk terminal for the past three years.