The Puryear Team are Inner Loop specialists in the Houston, Texas real estate market.  We do a lot of work in the Rice Military area, which boasts a newly revitalized Washington Corridor, featuring shopping, restaurants and nightlife!  However, if you live near the train tracks that run parallel to Washington Avenue, you're not getting the peace and quiet from the train whistles that blow through in the middle of the night.  But thanks to some grass roots efforts by annoyed residents, all will be sleeping tight whistle free!

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Quiet Zone Ordinance is Effective

By MIKE MORRIS CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Residents in the western portion of the Washington Avenue corridor say they've been sleeping more soundly, since a ‘quiet zone' went into effect last month limiting train horns in the neighborhood.

The zone, which city workers said runs from Sherwin Street on the west to Harvard Street on the east, is the product of two years' work by civic leaders and public officials, some of whom gathered May 27 to mark the occasion.

“Thanks to the community members who had to endure the noise for so long, who were so overwhelmingly supportive of this process to making sure that we had the necessary support to go forward,” said city councilman Ed Gonzalez, whose district includes the area.

“We've heard reports that those even a mile away can rest much better at night because they cannot hear the trains.”

A federal rule requiring trains to blow their horns as a warning at road crossings took effect in June 2005, but also provided ways for neighborhoods to silence the horns by implementing other safety measures to compensate.

One example of those additional measures — a barrier in the middle of the street meant to prevent motorists from driving around lowered railroad gates — was visible on Patterson Street behind the officials as they spoke in a public park.

Jane West and Tom Dornbusch, president and vice president of Super Neighborhood 22, a council of 10 civic clubs along Washington Avenue, also attended the gathering and said they had heard positive feedback from neighbors.

Work that will lead to a similar quiet zone for the eastern portion of the Washington Avenue area is underway. Jeff Weatherford of the city's public works department said that half of the neighborhood should go quiet this fall.

The project wasn't simply a matter of putting small yellow poles on the center stripes of north-south streets. The city had to negotiate with railroad owner Union Pacific, meet federal guidelines and keep the project feasible and affordable.

As part of the process, Bonner and Thompson streets were closed at the tracks. Medians at three streets, including T.C. Jester and Heights boulevards, also saw construction.

The latter project caused some consternation among business owners who had not realized the median cuts allowing easy access to their business were to be removed.

This is the city's third quiet zone since it launched the program in 2008.There have been a total of 16 requests for such zones throughout the city, Weatherford said.

“I've gotten a lot of e-mails from people who say how great it is and how they didn't realize how the train horns had really affected their quality of life,” Taylor said. “They're sleeping much better. It's just wonderful.”

Now, if a train does blow its horn — as is still required if pedestrians or motorists are close to the tracks — Taylor is sure to receive a clump of e-mails.