Madison area residents are now sleeping more soundly at night, thanks to a new law passed Oct. 1 banning the blowing of train whistles in the city of Madison.
Although Wisconsin & Southern Railroad had previously threatened not to comply with the ordinance, they have respected the ban.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, sponsored the city ordinance to ban the train whistles last summer. The law’s approval was delayed until last month because of a public information campaign to inform area residents of the potentially dangerous crossings that will no longer have whistles. These crossings have newly posted signs informing patrons not to expect whistles.
The law bans the regular blowing of train whistles at all crossings in the city that are signalized. A signalized crossing is marked by flashing lights or equipped with a gate. Approximately 10 percent of crossings in Madison are not signalized and engineers are allowed to blow their whistles at these crossings.
The law also allows the whistle if there is a threat to person or property.
Each train is equipped with a bell that can be rung at crossings as well. Verveer, a resident of the Bassett St. neighborhood near Wilson Street, said he could hear the bell clearly from the tracks. He said it is much less obnoxious than the whistles.
Complaints during the last several years helped spur the ban. Matt Tomkins, a UW-Madison sophomore, lived at Randall Station near the corner of Randall and Regent Street last year and said he was fed up with all the noise.
“Trains would come through at least once a day without fail, sometimes blowing their whistles a number of times right as I was about to fall asleep,” he said.
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad strongly opposed the ordinance from the start. Bill Gardner, president of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, made it apparent to city officials that they would not comply and would be willing to sue the city if the ordinance was passed.
Verveer argued for residents on the grounds that all trains through the area only travel 15 to 25 miles per hour. There are no high-speed passenger trains through Madison.
“The blowing of the whistles is a false sense of security.” Verveer said. “Rarely do cars even use their horns.”
Since the law was approved last month, Wisconsin & Southern Railroad has complied with the law and has refrained from blowing the whistles.
Verveer applauded the company’s decision.
“I am pleased that they decided to do the right thing and follow the law,” Verveer said. “They have changed operations accordingly and have greatly reduced noise pollution in the area.”
Assistant Madison City Attorney Steve Brist said there have been no formal complaints from students downtown. “There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of calls to my office concerning the noise,” he said.
Police are renewing enforcement of laws regarding motorists crossing tracks. In the last month they have handed out warnings to those speeding through flashing crossings, but will be stepping up the penalty for those who violate these laws.
