Town Manager Peter Joseph announced Tuesday night the Town Council will conduct a public workshop dedicated to the topic of establishing a “quiet zone” in the downtown district.
Complaints have been raised about train whistles from the Amtrak Downeaster, which began service to Freeport on Nov. 1, 2012.
Prior to the council meeting, Joseph said the Town Council already supports a quiet zone.
Joseph said District 1 residents can discuss their concerns at a forum July 16. Dates also have been established for District 2 and 3 meetings, but not yet for District 4, for residents in those districts to discuss any general concerns they may have.
During the July 16 workshop at the Freeport Community Center, 6:30 to 8 p.m., District 1 residents will weigh on on safety measures that could replace the whistles, he said.
“We’re going to submit some sort of application for a quiet zone to the Federal Rail Association,” Joseph said. “We just don’t know what form it’s going to take. The complex part is, what you do at the crossings? What they have now is gates.”
Joseph said the town is a “local designating authority” that can establish such a zone.
The cheapest and most effective way for the rail company to alert people a train is coming, he said, is a whistle. The town could simply do away with the whistles and not replace them with a safety measure, but town officials are wary of that, he said.
The town has traffic counts and safety calculations to help determine what safety measures could replace the whistles, Joseph said. A raised median is one option. How much money to spend on a safety measure is one major consideration, he said.
Joseph said the Town Council will have the quiet zone on its agenda during one of its next two meetings.
The District 2 workshop is scheduled for Aug. 26 at Mallet Barn, formerly known as Maine Barn, on Wolfe’s Neck Road. The District 3 workshop, at the French School on South Freeport Road, is set for Oct. 15.
Vice Chairwoman Kristina Egan led Tuesday night’s meeting in the absence of Chairman James Hendricks.
lgrard@timesrecord.com
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