APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – The City of Appleton could be a whole lot quieter in the near future…literally.
The city’s municipal services committee approved a plan Tuesday for a quiet zone that would cover almost two dozen railroad crossings across the city, but the plan comes at a cost of nearly $800,000.
For Melanie Jirikowic, getting a good night’s sleep can be tough.
“Summer when the windows are open, you can sometimes be woken up at two, three in the morning. Because we are next to so many crossings, you can really hear them coming.”
To help sleep more soundly, Jirikowic is one of many who are on board with creating a quiet zone in Appleton. A quiet zone is where trains do not sound their horns, unless in case of emergency.
In order to create the quiet zones, the city would need to make improvements at each of the railroad crossings.
Public works director Paula Vandehey says those improvements include adding things like medians and extra signage.
“What happens then is when the gates come down, there’s no sneaking around it because of the raised median”
The city would have to apply for a quiet zone from the railroad. Then, figure out a way to pay for it.
For Jirikowic, the main concern is quality of life, now and in the future.
“Definitely, because even if we would wanna sell our house some time, having the train would be a deterrent”
Vandehey sayss if the plan is approved, it would go into action next year.
“Engineering and to do the application and we’re looking at 2018 and maybe 2019 to do all the modifications and hopefully have the quiet zone by the end of 2019”
The full city council will have the final say on the quiet zone. A vote is expected on the measure September 7th.
