Train Horns Sound in Medford After City's Whistle Ban Revoked

(Want to see what it's like in West Medford when the train comes? )

Trains passing through Medford began sounding their horns Friday night and it's not clear when they will stop.

The Federal Railroad Administration revoked Medford's status as a train quiet zone last week after the city failed to come up with a safety alternative for horn-sounding. The city was given until 2010 to come into compliance when a federal law regarding train crossing safety was finalized in 2005. The FRA waited another year before the status was revoked, an administration spokesman said. 

Locomotives running over the commuter rail track were ordered to sound their horns when passing over Canal Street and High Street Friday night.

Irked local residents, who say the noise keeps them up at night and is a nuisance during the day, have inundated offices of local and federal officials with complaints. Trains run through Medford sometimes as close as a few minutes apart.

Mayor Michael McGlynn said he has found a company that can install barriers to  likely bring the city in compliance and is looking to come to an agreement to stop the horns in the meantime.

"I've taken about 12 to 15 names from calls and had a few people walk in," said Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn. "I can see how people sometimes get a little exasperated by bureaucracy."

The city could sign a contract as soon as Wednesday morning, McGlynn said.

FRA spokesman Warren Flatau would not say how long it would take for the ban to be lifted. Any proposed plan will have to be approved by the administration's safety board before the horns can stop sounding, he said.

"These are situational," Flatau said. "In the past, we have worked successfully with the locality, railroad and state to try and address the long-term and interim needs."

In 2005 a new federal law was passed requiring locomotives blow horns  at vehicle intersections nationwide as a safety measure. The law gave communities that had previous quiet agreements - or "whistle bans" - with train companies until 2007 to come up with a detailed plan, and until June 2010 to come in compliance.

Medford submitted a plan in 2007, but did not come into compliance, Flatau said.

"We had some discussions with the city earlier in 2010, but that’s where our involvement falls off to some degree," he said.

McGlynn said the city originally came up with a plan to use a quad gate, which would drop down to block all lanes of travel in each direction on High Street. But after learning it would have to connect electronically to Somerville at a cost of about $2 million they went back to the drawing board, he said.

About two months ago, Assistant City Engineer Mark Shea asked the FRA for more time to get into compliance, but was denied, McGlynn said.

The mayor left a meeting with officials from the FRA and Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad last week believing the city would have two weeks to get into compliance, he said.

"We all left the meeting and thought that's what was going to happen," McGlynn said. "Then, all of a sudden, the horns started blowing Friday night."

Since then, local residents have been subjected to horns as frequently as every 15 minutes. Federal law requires the horns to be between 96 and 110 decibels.

Jaime King, who lives near the rail crossing at High Street, started a Facebook page after getting frustrated with the noise.

"The trains have never been a big issue for me in the two years I've lived here," she said in an email. "But in the last three days or so, they are driving me insane."

Along with the mayor's office, numerous residents have also called Congressman Ed Markey, a spokeswoman said. The FRA has also received calls, Flatau said.

One way the city can come in compliance is by placing plastic strip barriers in the median on each side of the crossings, Flatau said. The barriers limit traffic turning onto the street to only make a right and provide warning to drivers that tracks lay ahead.

They are expected to go 100 feet each way beyond the tracks, but sometimes exceptions are made, Flatau said.

Medford wants to install the barriers, and could run them 100 feet or close to it on Canal Street and the west side of High Street, McGlynn said. But there are only about 12 feet on the east side of High Street until it meets Playstead Road, he said. The barriers would cost about $25,000.

City engineers are expected to discuss the issue with the City Council Tuesday at 7 p.m.