SN 22 Town Hall Meeting

March 25, 2009

I attended the town hall meeting this evening at the West End Multi-Service Center on Heights Blvd. The topic of discussion was the proposed quiet zone/safety zone of Washington Avenue.

To recap the meeting, the discussion included:

• A website was set-up for information - http://www.washingtonquietzone.com/
• These types of zones are in two districts - H & G
• Super Neighborhood includes 10 civic clubs from around the Washington Avenue area
• City Council approved the overall goal of the program this month
• First phase is the safety zone - infrastructure improvements
• Second phase is the quiet zone - reduces (not eliminate) the number of times trains blow their horns
• The goal is to have the quiet zone in place by this fall
• Citizens can call HPD to report the transients on the tracks
• The Washington Avenue is fully funded by the city (approx. $600,000)
• Included under the current fiscal year budget
• The Mayor's overall funding for these types of zones is $8.1 million (mostly TX DOT funds)
• Union Pacific is currently doing construction on about 75 railroad crossings which are not related to the quiet zones
• First Ward is waiting on Union Pacific to execute the agreement (the city already did their part)
• Washington Avenue zone will be a 24-hour quiet zone
• The process of notifying includes 3 notices of intent
• Residents within 500 feet away from the tracks will be notified
• However, there are some discussion about that not being enough
• Businesses will also be notified
• Several more meetings will be scheduled to discuss the details of the plan