APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Appleton is now officially a railroad quiet zone. This means residents may be getting more sleep, as trains are no longer blaring their horns at railroad crossings.
But, no more horns blowing loudly also present some serious dangers.
It may have looked like a group of people was tagging graffiti around downtown Appleton Monday, but it actually may have been saving lives.
“We’re just hoping that, by adding this stenciling that we’re doing – ‘See Tracks, Think Trains,’ – we can bring awareness that, hey, there are tracks here, be careful,” said Wisconsin Operation Lifesaver state coordinator Gary Koerner.
Koerner tells FOX 11 a person or vehicle is hit by a train in the U.S. every three hours.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, last year there were over a thousand pedestrian rail trespass casualties. More than half were fatal, and a little over 400 resulted in injuries.
“It doesn’t affect just the person, it affects the engineer, the conductor, the families, the relatives, and friends. It affects everybody, so we’d like to reduce that number to zero.”
The WOL crew stenciled signs at three different locations, one right next to a Boys & Girls Club.
“We just want to make sure that kids understand that, ‘Hey, there are tracks here, you need to be careful.’ Trains can come in any direction, at any time,” Koerner said.
Appleton Police helped out with the artwork to let people know the train tracks will be a little quieter from now on.
“We want to make sure that we’re bringing that awareness,” said public informant officer for the Appleton Police Department Meghan Cash. “There’s no longer going to be that loud horn that’s gonna alert people that there’s a train coming.”
The signs stenciled Monday were sprayed on by chalk spray, so they won’t be there for long, but the group says they plan on speaking to the city to try to make them permanent.
The crew started at the crossing on Badger Avenue and Lawrence Street.
