To the editor:
As we all know, our school district has gone to great lengths to attract quality educators. As a result of their efforts, The Tiny House Project has launched. Unfortunately, it will not take long for these future residences and investors to realize the train horns from two tracks blowing at all hours of the day and night interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of their new home. Consideration should be given to adopting the same practice that the city of Marana enacted for 8 quiet zone crossings in 2014. Go to https://tucson.com/news/local/northwest/town-feds-railroad-company-silence-marana-train-stops/article_39749959-b57b-5500-854b-87e5464d52ed.html, for more information about quiet zone crossings.
Understand that redundant safety measures are still in place and the train engineers still have the option of using the horns when they see a potential safety issue. In 2005, Federal Railroad Administration regulations gave local communities the option of silencing train horns by establishing quiet zones if certain supplemental or alternative safety measures are in place. Such as the already installed signal lights and crossing gates.
The current high volume of traffic on these two tracks is going to only increase in the future. Recent news articles have announced the Port of Tucson will be increasing its size to accommodate the Amazon Distribution Center, located off of Kolb road. Additionally, in 2016, the port completed infrastructure improvements, including a new switching system that dramatically increased their capacity from 25-50 shipping containers a day to 500. To read more on this visit http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/051518_amazon/amazon-confirms-massive-tucson-warehouse-plans/
Taking steps now to make the two crossings on Colossal Cave Road established quit zones could only improve the community’s chances to bring in and retain quality educators.
James W
Editor’s note: Page 15 has details on the Amazon Fulfillment Center story.
