[Cabs] Judge: Denver's West rail line must have low-decibel warning bells

[Chris Foster]

Hello List members,

I thought I'd share this article with you.  For those of you involved,
thanks for giving of your time and energy to make your voices heard.  Chris
foster 

 

 

 

Judge: Denver's West rail line must have low-decibel warning bells

By Jeffrey Leib

The Denver Post

Posted: 05/24/2011 01:00:00 AM MDTUpdated: 05/24/2011 06:26:35 AM MDT

 

 

Quad gates are pictured at the West Corridor light-rail crossing under
construction at West 13th Avenue and Estes Street. Because of the proximity
of homes to the tracks, warning bells will adjust automatically to 5
decibels above the ambient-noise level. (John Prieto, Denver Post file)RTD
can install so-called "quiet crossings" on its West Corridor light-rail
line, allowing train operations without loud bells and horns to warn
motorists, but the agency will need low-decibel warnings for pedestrians
when safety gates come down, according to a judge's ruling.

 

Because so much of the 12-mile West line traverses residential areas,
community groups along the route had asked the Regional Transportation
District to dampen horn and warning-bell sounds at 11 crossings. The $710
million rail line is scheduled to open in two years.

 

With quiet crossings, rail agencies typically rely on quad gates or dual
gates with raised medians to keep motorists from getting on the tracks in
front of a train. Using these safety measures, transit districts can
eliminate audible warnings to motorists, such as the horns train operators
usually sound when crossing a street.

 

But when RTD petitioned the state Public Utilities Commission for quiet
crossings on the West line, members of metro Denver's blind community said
the total elimination of audible warnings would endanger pedestrians.

 

In a 47-page ruling issued late Friday, PUC Administrative Law Judge Keith
Kirchubel agreed and approved RTD's request for quiet crossings with the
qualifier that lower-decibel warning bells be installed at the
intersections.

 

Kirchubel found that RTD's original request to silence warning bells and
train horns was "inadequate to warn blind and child pedestrians of an
approaching train."

 

"The alternative audible pedestrian-warning system demonstrated by RTD is an
effective and viable safety precaution that does not unreasonably impact the
quiet character of the adjacent neighborhoods," he wrote.

 

The pact RTD worked out with local community groups and representatives of
the blind community - and approved by Kirchubel - calls for the warning
bells for pedestrians to adjust in real time and sound at 5 decibels above
the existing ambient-noise level at each location.

 

Kirchubel said pre-established noise limits on the pedestrian safety bells
would be revisited if officials later determine that the sound levels are
too low to provide adequate warning.

 

Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib at denverpost.com