News about the CP Rail Noise...

As you may recall, the Federal Rail Authority (FRA) was out testing noise levels from November 1-5.

Council President Kathy Lantry had a conference call with the FRA and Janet Nelson (of Senator Franken's office) on December 3, 2010. There were a number of delays in having this conversation due to a variety of emergencies that came up with the FRA.

The FRA would normally test noise on couplers for the types of requests that we made, but because they had done this testing before, they decided to broaden the scope of items to noise test.

The FRA conducted noise tests at 11 different locations on the following things: Coupler noise, retarder noise, moving train noise and moving locomotive noise.

Each one of the items measured has different limits on the decibel level allowed. There are tons of factors that are associated with each of the items that range from frequency to wind speed to train speed and for simplification purposes, I have used the most basic information shared in the conference call.

Coupler Noise
limit is 92 dB
highest measured was 66 dB

Retarder Noise
limit is 83 dB
highest measured was 80 dB (measured at corner of Lower Afton and Point Douglas Rd)
highest measured from a residence was 69 dB

Moving Train Noise
limit is 88-93 dB
highest measured from a residence was 69 dB

Moving Locomotive Noise
limit is 96 dB
highest measured was 88 dB

All this information will be sent to Senator Franken's office within the next week or so and Janet will forward this to Kathy Lantry who will forward it to District 1.

So what happens next? Obviously the numbers show they are in compliance. The FRA has been out here 3 years in a row with pretty much the same results each time. Kathy Lantry told them perhaps it had something to do with the time of the year. Each time they have showed up in November.

The FRA did have a contact name for someone within CP Rail and they have passed that along to Janet. Janet is going to wait until she gets the report from the FRA and then she is going to contact the person at CP to chat with him about the concerns of the neighborhood. After she does this, she is going to let Kathy Lantry know what she thinks our best approach with CP might be.

Kathy Lantry wants to be sure and acknowledge the work of Janet Nelson from Senator Franken's office. She has been able to get more done in a faster fashion than anyone else. Kathy also feels as if she is advocating for our neighborhood in a strong and consistent fashion. She suggested talking to the new contact at CP in hopes that the weight of the Senator's office will help to yield results. Having Janet on board has been a fabulous addition.

Updates to follow.

Submitted by Kathy Lantry, City Council President and Ward 7 representative.