Winter Haven Residents Complain at City Commission Meeting about Noise from Trains

by James Coulter

 

While the City of Winter Haven has been working to create “quiet zones” along railroad tracks through the city, several residents appeared at a recent city commission meeting to complain about the noise from passing trains.

 

During the public comments portion of their meeting on Mon. Apr. 14, the Winter Haven City Commission was approached by three city residents to express complaints and concerns about the lack of quiet zones.

 

Quiet zones, as explained by Google, are “designated stretches of railroad track where train crews are not required to routinely sound their horns at railroad crossings.”

 

While the subject of quiet zones has been raised and discussed by the city in the past, especially by late city commissioner Jim Powell, the lack of discussion in recent years has raised concerns for residents living near railroad tracks.

 

One resident, Barbara Klein, even used her phone to play an audio clip of a train passing by her house. She told the commission that she was even awakened by a train passing by her house and blaring its horn at 3 AM, and that she could not go back to sleep even after it passed.

 

“I just don’t know if you understand what it is that we have to listen to,” she said. “That is what we have to listen to every day and every night.”

 

Another resident, Debbie K., had been friends with the late Commissioner Powell and that she still remains friends with his wife. She remembered when Commissioner Powell was a proponent of quiet zones, and how discussion of the subject has allegedly waned in recent years since his passing.

 

She mentioned how, two weeks before his passing, Commissioner Powell had told her that quiet zones were being considered by the City and that they would be named after him in his honor.

 

“I cannot tell you how happy and proud he was at that moment,” she said. “That was, in another two weeks, two years ago. It has been in the works for ten years. I brought it up ten years ago. I would like to be alive to see him honored…I do not want to see it take another 10 or 20 years.”

 

Another resident, Frank L., mentioned how the local newspaper had run an article discussing quiet zones and how the mayor had declared that the city was close to establishing them.

 

“That was in 2022. Well, here we are, and we are still waiting,” he said. “So, I am sure the babies, the children who live along the tracks will be welcome to have those engineers stop blowing their horns.”

 

City Manager T. Michael Stavres commended the residents for coming forward to express their concerns. He told them he empathized with their plight concerning the trains, and that he understood their frustration concerning the quiet zones.

 

“I think I more so emphasize with the frustration of residents in terms of trying to get there,” he said. “We are somewhat in the same boat in that, as strong and powerful as government can be at times, for some reason, dating back well into history, even greater authority was given to the railroad industry. And this is the battle we have continued to wage since we first started discussing quiet zones.”

 

Deputy City Manager MJ Carnevale then went on to explain how the City has, in fact, been making steady progress toward establishing quiet zones. In fact, many major milestones have been achieved in recent years.

 

“Each of these [milestones] has had some pretty major setbacks along the way, and we have come a long way to go over these hurdles,” he explained.

 

The proposed quiet zones would be created between Coleman Road and North Lake Shipp Drive covering all five of those crossings.

 

Since quiet zones were proposed in 2016, the City has completed a feasibility study, budgeted for and designed improvements, finalized the designs and received necessary approvals, and issued a notice of intent.

 

The only necessary step that has prevented the City from moving forward with establishing quiet zones has been obtaining a right-of-way entry permit from CSX, a permit that is currently pending and in review.

 

“The city of Winter Haven now has the authority to create the quiet zone by issuing a notice of establishment,” he said. “But to establish the quiet zone, we have to build the safety and improvements that were outlined in the engineering design work, and to design those safety improvements, we have to go into the CSX right of way.”

 

However, Deputy City Manager Carnevale mentioned that he had spoken with a member of the CSX team that day, and that the City should hear back in the next week or two.

 

Once the right of entry is approved, the next step for the City would be to construct safety enhancements and to budget funding within the City Transportation Fund.

 

Afterward, the expected timeline for establishing quiet zones would be 180 days, with 90 days for bidding an award, and 90 days for construction and inspection.