Area caught between concrete and railroad

With an 86-foot-long strip of concrete, Spokane Valley managed to protect a designation that prevents train horns from blowing near University and Trent.

It’s the latest in more than a decade of compromises at the bureaucratic vortex where city-owned North University Road and a federally regulated railroad intersect. And while the zone that a few tenacious neighbors coaxed into existence over the last dozen years remains in place, many people are unhappy with the city suddenly halving the width of the entrance to their street to accommodate it.

“I think it’s going to end up being more of a hassle,” said Debbie McLean, who lives near the intersection.

She’s lived on East Fairview Avenue since the late 1980s. While she’s grown used to occasional whistles from the 45-plus Burlington Northern and Santa Fe trains passing her each day, she said the narrower entrance to Fairview has made it more tedious for drivers.

Spokane Valley recently sent letters to residents near the rail crossing at University notifying them that they faced the choice of blocking off Fairview at University entirely or losing the quiet zone.

City engineers said they had to act quickly because they have to renew the application for it by June 24. Although the new federal rules came out last year, the city didn’t realize they would affect the crossing until officials began working on the application in March.

Fairview, which is 40 feet from the crossing arm, would have killed the quiet zone because it is now considered too close to the tracks.

Consequently, when the engineers found a third solution, the city didn’t notify the neighbors again until after it installed the new curb last week. Shaped like a half circle sticking into the street, it technically moves the entrance of Fairview farther from the crossing.

“They’re putting the cart before the horse, I think,” said Carol Nielson. She’s lived on Fairview for 18 years, in which time, she said, she’s grown so used to the horns that losing the quiet zone wouldn’t be more annoying than closing the street, she said.

Even with the designation in effect, trains regularly blow their horns at the crossing – something neighbors said they would like to see result in fines.

If the city had gone ahead with original plans to close the exit at University, it would have created detours up to a mile long for people leaving the neighborhood because few of the streets in the area connect.

“I just think it’s ridiculous what they’re doing,” Nielson said.

Neighbors can still get out on University, but part of the street is now 18.5 feet wide. Engineers say that’s enough room for a car in each direction, but McLean said trucks like one that recently delivered landscaping material to her can barely make it through.

In the future, Spokane Valley might buy additional right of way to add to the south edge of Fairview, but there’s no indication that would happen anytime soon.

After the city’s first letter went out, a majority of people who responded said they were in favor of keeping the quiet zone even if it meant closing Fairview, city spokeswoman Carolbelle Branch said in a release.

“We’ve got a right to sleep. We’ve got a right to open our windows. We’ve got a right to exist, too,” Tony Lazanis said.

While government officials may not have been able to hear train horns where they work over the years, they’ve heard from Lazanis on a regular basis.

About a dozen trains a day rolled by the intersection 45 years ago when he took over a hotel on the other side of Trent. In the years that followed train traffic increased dramatically, aided by railroad mergers.

Lazanis said the horns were ruining his business, and he set out to persuade the state to create the quiet zone at the University crossing.

“It was a hell of a battle to pass this,” he said.

Lazanis said the year it passed, he traveled to Olympia to testify on its behalf about a dozen times, usually leaving at 5 a.m. and coming home after midnight.

After it was defeated four years in a row, the state Legislature passed the bill in 1995.

The federal government has since taken over control of quiet zones from the states, but so far, the University crossing quiet zone has survived that transition, also.