If you're tired of hearing train horns blare in the middle of the night, then be heard on Wednesday, October 8 in Fort Collins. Quiet zones do exist so come voice your opinions and find out more.

On Wednesday, October 8, Fort Collins residents are invited to a "quiet zone" open house to find out more about the quiet zones that are in place throughout the city. The meeting will take place in the Community Center (215 N. Mason St.) between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Basically, in a nutshell, a quiet zone is:

...a section of a rail line that contains one or more consecutive public crossings at which train horns are not routinely sounded. Without a quiet zone, horns are sounded at crossings according to the regulations of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Train Horn Rule. This rule also explains the details of improvements needed to establish a quiet zone or to achieve a waiver.

The City of Fort Collins has been looking into some options that would also allow for the implementation of quiet zones at rail crossings in the downtown area. My thoughts are that many engineers, especially late night, rail on those horns way too much. If you can't see the train coming, you probably shouldn't be on the road and in my opinion, a train horn won't do you much good at that point. A toot toot is one thing compared to one going off for a 1/4 mile, or more.

I have also heard from many that live along a rail line, if they call to make complaints, the horns don't go away, or shorter, they pay the price by angered engineers who lay on the horns in excess.

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