County Gains Power To Ban Some Train Whistles

Spokane County this week became the first in the state to regulate train whistles.

Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to pass the ordinance after a four-hour hearing that included emotional testimony from all sides.

Many residents in the unincorporated area, especially the Valley, pushed for the ordinance, which allows the county to ban whistles at road crossings where extra safety measures are in place.

Residents said the whistles, which locomotive drivers now sound at all crossings, are a constant irritant, interrupting their sleep and disrupting their personal lives and businesses.

Railroad employees and officials fought the ban.

Three locomotive engineers said the law would lead to more train-automobile collisions.

“We need all the tools we can use to warn the public,” said Bill Delyea, who drives trains and urged commissioners to reject the law. “When I’m blowing that whistle, that’s the last warning that person will hear before they lose their life.”

Federal and state regulators warned that the county’s law may be overturned if it doesn’t comply with their policies.

New regulations being written by the Federal Railroad Administration may “pre-empt” the county’s new ordinance, said Ronald Ries, the agency’s representative in eight western states, including Washington.

Ries said he’d hate to see the county pass its law and spend a lot of money improving rail crossings only to have the whistle return.

Railroad lawyers hinted their companies might sue to have the ordinance nullified.

“We’re talking about convenience versus killing people,” said Larry Leggett, a Burlington Northern attorney.

But residents argued that the safety measures required by the law - gates that block the tracks and concrete medians in the middle of the road to keep people from driving around - would be enough to ensure public safety.

“History shows us that it’s the gate at crossings that saves lives, not whistles,” said Tony Lazanis, who owns a motel on East Trent. “It’s a war zone of noise out there.”

Lazanis and Ray Thieman, who also owns a motel on Trent, have fought for the past seven years to get the ban in place.

Valley resident and businessman Don Kachinsky said the supplemental safety measures proposed by the county should be an adequate deterrent.

Only a stupid person would try to get around them, Kachinsky said.

“How much do you have to do to show these people that this is what you really mean, that they should stop?” he said. “You can’t be in the driver’s seat with them.”

Commissioners acknowledged the possible pitfalls with the law - including the threat of having it nullified by new federal restrictions - but decided they’d take their chances.

“Sometimes, you need to act,” Hasson said. “You just hit a threshold where society has to speak back.”

Harris agreed.

“I’m tired of the feds getting into my face,” he said.

The state Legislature passed a law earlier this year that gives counties the right to regulate train whistles. Washington cities have had such authority for nearly 80 years.

Railroad officials called the law a bad idea.

There’s a good reason train engineers blow their whistles, Delyea said. A car stands little chance against a train, the engineer said. The weight ratio is 4,000-to-1.

“It’s like your car running over a 12-ounce can of pop,” Delyea said.

Besides, he said, the railroad was in place a long time before the Valley developed into the urban sprawl it is today, he said.

“If you buy a piece of property or you live next to the railroad, you should expect some industrial noise,” Delyea said. “The railroads were here first.”

That didn’t wash with those who support the ban.

Thieman said when he bought his motel several years agom when only about 10 trains per day rolled past.

Now there are nearly 100.

Commissioners agreed.

“Things have changed,” said Marlton, adding that his life was once saved when he was about to drive across some tracks but heard an engineer blow his whistle. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TRAIN WHISTLE ORDINANCE The new county train whistle ordinance allows commissioners to ban locomotive whistles and horns at crossings in the unincorporated area where “supplemental safety measures” are in place. The ordinance stipulates that those safety measures will include gates that will fall across the road as a train approaches and barriers in the median that will make it difficult for cars to drive around the gates. County engineer Bill Johns said Tuesday he was confident the barriers and gates would be adequate to keep people for driving through crossings. Not all crossings will receive the new safety measures and subsequent whistle ban. The county will consider the ban on a case-by-case basis, with public hearings being required for each proposal.