I live just over a block from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks that slice through Manteca crossing 10 streets.
Train horns are background noise and so for the most part is the rumbling of freight cars.
And before I bought my current home 10 years ago, I lived for nearly four years virtually on top of Highway 99 in a second floor apartment at Laurel Glenn on Button Avenue long before sound walls were in place. I always had my bedroom windows open facing the freeway except during the cold of winter. Save for the occasional Jake break, the noise generated become about as annoying as the soothing sound of a babbling brook I now drive 200 or so miles round trip and hike for 10 miles to hear on Saturday’s
There are people in Manteca who abhor the train horns. They often live much farther away from the tracks — sometimes a mile or so. Wind and other conditions impact how sounds carry. That said, at least two individuals that fall in that category say they are more annoyed by the rumbling train sounds than the horns per se.
That’s not to dismiss those who have issues with train noises it’s just to underscore that this is not a black and white issue. There is a lot of gray and that gray could end up being very expensive.
The Manteca City Council will hear tonight how they can create a quiet zone through Manteca without expensive wayside horns such as are in place in Escalon at four crossings in that city.
It involves putting in place four quadrant gate crossing arms and flashers in each direction of travel on both sides of the tracks making it extremely dicey to try and drive around them. The other option are traffic medians that are placed close enough and are high enough to make it extremely difficult for anyone to drive over them short of someone in a Monster Truck. The other option is to do both.
Union Pacific that is required by federal law to activate horns as their trains approach crossings is not wild about the idea but will work with jurisdictions that move forward with quiet zones. That should give everyone pause. That’s because if a jurisdiction moves forward with wayside horns or the options the council will hear about tonight the railroad exposure in an established quiet zone is virtually eliminated with the biggest burden of liability in an accident or death shifting to the local jurisdiction.
Over the years Manteca has had a fair number of people try to drive around crossing arms and get hit or actually walk into trains as they are going by oblivious to the danger. Granted most of the remaining victims were either suicidal, nonchalantly waking along the tracks while trespassing or so high that they decided to take a nap on the tracks. If Manteca goes with quiet zones it won’t make much of a difference with the stoned or those who want to go by train.
That said why wouldn’t Union Pacific want to reduce its exposure to liability? The switch doesn’t cost them a cent as it would be all on the back of local taxpayers.
The answer is obvious. The railroad isn’t in the business of killing people.  The train vs vehicle encounters are costly for Union Pacific in terms of damages and delay of trains even if they don’t get sued. Besides, trains accidents aren’t exactly the dream of the marketing department. Union Pacific based on their vast experience with interacting with motorists and pedestrians trying to cross the tracks as a train that could easily weigh in excess of 10,000 tons comes barreling down on them at 50 mph does not think quiet zones are a good idea.
In a day and age where people are distracted driving whether it is hands free cell phone or something else and ride in vehicles that are becoming more effective at blocking out noise when the windows are all up, how is eliminating train horns maintaining public safety let alone enhancing it?
And let’s not forget the zombies plugged into their ear buds while torturing their ear drums as they walk the streets oblivious to anything approaching including a train.
Someone also might want to remind the City Council of an incident a few years back when Union Pacific was teamed up with Manteca Police in an Operation Lifesaver endeavor where they would ticket drivers who opted to go around crossing arms while UP ran a locomotive back and forth through town. An individual — druggie, vagrant or homeless — was actually caught in the act of trying to see if there was any wiring they could strip from the crossing arms to sell for cash. In other valley cities such a Turlock some vandal scavengers actually succeed in disabling crossing arm signals. If the city proceeds with quiet zones and pays for upgrades that UP needs to do, the  railroad may be in the hook for the repairs but the city will have conveniently put itself at the front of the line if the non-working crossing arm is a precursor to a train versus vehicle collision that ends with a lawsuit.
It might be tempting to silence train horns but in the context of costs, the real possibility safety will be comprised, and a massive increase in exposure from lawsuits is it something Manteca can afford to do?

Disclaimer



This column is the opinion of executive editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA.  He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209.249.3519.