Olmsted Falls Initiates Quiet Zone

Statement

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today released the following statement in advance of Olmsted Falls implementation of a long awaited "Quiet Zone" which will end the requirement that trains blow their horns before crossing every street. Congressman Kucinich, mayors of affected communities, the State of Ohio, and the Federal Railroad Administration worked to change the law to allow Quiet Zones where trains may cross roads without blowing their horns if certain safety criteria were met to ensure that the crossing remained safe without the horns. The new law goes into affect tomorrow, April 18, 2012.

"This will be welcome relief to the people of Olmsted Falls and surrounding communities," said Congressman Dennis Kucinich. "With increased freight traffic after Norfolk Southern and CSX acquired Conrail in 1998, agreements between local communities and the railroads made funding available for grade separations to mitigate noise and traffic problems. Grade separations that are completed at Columbia Road in Olmsted Falls and Front Street and Bagley Road in Berea, or are under engineering or construction like the ones on Fitch Road and Stearns Road in Olmsted Township, were made possible through those agreements. But laws had to be changed at the state and federal levels to make Quiet Zones possible.

"We have worked for 14 years for this day to come. The opening of the Olmsted Falls Quiet Zone is the product of the hard work at the local, state, and federal levels and the dogged determination of Mayor Robert Blomquist and his administration. Congratulations go out to him and the people of Olmsted Falls on this accomplishment."

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