Suddenly and without warning, our Quiet Zone is no longer quiet. This week the trains have been blowing their horns at all hours of the day and night, seriously disrupting the peace and tranquility of our adjacent residential neighborhoods. When this first started the City immediately reached out to our governmental contacts at Union Pacific to find out what’s going on, for how long, and why we weren’t given advance notice. It has been a frustrating few days as they’ve worked on tracking it down (no pun intended), but we’ve finally got an answer.
Turns out there’s an “urgent vegetation concern” at a nearby crossing, which triggered a Form C track bulletin prompting the use of the horns. Such conditions deemed unsafe override the Quiet Zone designation. We are assured Union Pacific is now working with the City of Houston to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
Having lived right by the tracks myself, both before and after the Quiet Zone went into effect, I can personally attest what a big deal this is. It’s more than just quality of life; this is about the health and welfare of our residents. We’ll continue to stay on top of the situation and appreciate your patience as our Quiet Zone is restored.
Turns out there’s an “urgent vegetation concern” at a nearby crossing, which triggered a Form C track bulletin prompting the use of the horns. Such conditions deemed unsafe override the Quiet Zone designation. We are assured Union Pacific is now working with the City of Houston to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
Having lived right by the tracks myself, both before and after the Quiet Zone went into effect, I can personally attest what a big deal this is. It’s more than just quality of life; this is about the health and welfare of our residents. We’ll continue to stay on top of the situation and appreciate your patience as our Quiet Zone is restored.
