Train Horn Ban Begins Friday At University Road Crossing

Eight years of persistence have paid off for Tony Lazanis.

The Valley motel owner and his neighbors have won their battle to ban train whistles - at least temporarily - at the University Road crossing.

Starting Friday, Burlington Northern Santa Fe engineers will blow the whistles only in emergencies, or to warn nearby pedestrians and work crews. Motorists will see new black and yellow warning signs, reading “Caution, No Train Horns.”

The ban, issued by the Federal Railroad Administration, affects the University Road crossing only. But, it could spill over to other Spokane County railroad crossings once new federal safety standards are completed, said assistant county engineer Ross Kelley.

The FRA will monitor the crossing, and use the data it gathers to create those long-awaited standards for gated, whistle-free crossings.

Proponents of whistle bans say gates that fall across the road are more effective at protecting the public than warning whistles.

The University crossing has gates, as well as a concrete median designed to stop vehicles from sneaking around the lowered arms.

The test ban will last at least through late April.

“If we find there’s no (safety) problem,” Kelley said, “the Federal Railroad Administration would like to extend it, maybe for 18 months.”

Or, maybe indefinitely.

The fight for a silent night has been a long one for Lazanis, who has owned the Eastgate Motel on East Trent Avenue for more than 35 years. Train traffic by his motel has increased over the years. The accompanying blare of the whistle has hurt his business, he said, and rattled his nerves.

That will end at midnight tonight.

“It’s a happy Christmas for all of us,” said Lazanis, who with fellow motel owner Ray Thieman spent five years pushing for state legislation.

That legislation, passed in 1995, allows counties to create whistle-free zones at gated crossings - if those crossings meet federal safety standards. County commissioners passed a whistle-ban ordinance later that year, but found their progress stymied by the unfinished federal safety standards.

Numerous communities across the country are waiting for those new FRA standards so they can create their own whistle-free crossings. Until then, only FRA test sites can be legally whistle-free.

The University crossing will be the only test site in the nation to use video cameras to monitor driver behavior. The agency wants to see if the concrete medians installed there will make an effective substitute for warning whistles. It will review videotape at the crossing twice weekly to see how many cars, if any, cross the tracks despite the activated safety devices.

“I anticipate this will be real successful,” said Kelley, who has spent over a year on the project. “We feel we have a good safety feature.”

Although county officials are interested in creating additional whistle-free crossings, they will probably have to wait at least two years, said FRA regional manager Ron Ries. Ries expects it to take the FRA at least another year to complete and publish the new federal safety standards. Once published, the rules don’t go into effect for 12 months.

“This has been a long, long battle,” said Lazanis, who has learned to be patient, but persistent. “Sometimes you find a closed door,” he said, “but if you persist, it opens up.”

, DataTimes