Bellingham train safety and noise issues

 Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association members have addressed concern over the lack of planning in case of hazardous material spills and the increasing train noise.

With the large volumes of hazardous materials that are transported daily across the Bellingham railways, the Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association have had multiple conversations in their monthly meetings about train safety issues.

At the most recent meeting in May, the Lettered Streets neighborhood council discussed proposing to the city to provide one on one hazardous material training to anyone living or working within 500 feet of the railroad track.

“The city council is taking it seriously, because it is an ongoing issue and there are legitimate concerns about public health and safety,” said Vanessa Blackburn, community outreach coordinator in the mayor’s office. “But there’s only so much the city can do.”

The city has taken some direct steps towards resolving this issue and a statement was made by the city council to express railroad safety concern early January.

On Feb. 4, Bellingham mayor Kelli Linville wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation, addressing the need for new standards to be placed for rail cars transporting oil and strict classification guidelines to ensure proper handling of Bakken crude oil.

Blackburn said that rail safety is a large issue that the city is concerned about especially with prior oil train accidents that have happened in the past, such as the coal train accident that happened early January that derailed and sent coal filled containers into a creek in British Columbia.  

 “If the Gateway Pacific Terminal was built it could add an additional 18 trains per day coming through Bellingham,” said Blackburn. 

An additional track would also have to be built, which would cut off access to the waterfront.

 “Accidents and access to our waterfront are the main issues that are being worked on currently with Burlington Northern Railway on safety issues around some of the intersections that cross onto the waterfront,” said Blackburn.

Bellingham residents have also addressed concern over the pedestrian and car crossing at Boulevard Park and are now also involved as part of the city’s plan to make a safer crossing at those areas. This would involve installing safety gates so that people and cars could not physically go onto the train tracks.

 “The city is looking at these zones as more safety zones than quiet zones because it means more safer crossing rails,” said Blackburn.

So far the emergency management has a temporary plan, but the mayor is still working towards creating a thorough safety and disaster plan.

Some Lettered Streets residents have also complained about the heavy trains rocking their houses at 4 a.m.

“It is way louder and longer than when I was a kid because the trains are longer,” said Judy Buchanan, a resident who also grew up in the Lettered Streets.

According to the city of Bellingham, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulates all trains in Washington State, and the city of Bellingham has no regulatory authority.

Bellingham’s only options for reducing train noise is to close unnecessary crossings or to establish quiet zones where the Federal Railroad Administration has agreed that trains are not required to sound the horn at each public crossing except in emergencies.  

According to the city of Bellingham, the FRA requires that freight and passenger trains sound horns for 20 seconds prior to reaching public crossings, 24 hours a day.

“It’s very irritating for me and no one needs to be woken up at 3 or 4 in the morning,” Buchanan said.

Andrew Good, Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission representative, said that it is in the cities budget to do crossing at Boulevard Park and C Street so that the trains would not have to blow their whistles there.

“It doesn't really bother me because I’m always woken up by my children at night anyways, but surprisingly the train noise is loud enough to trigger my baby monitor to come on,” said Jelena Sacharoff, chair of the Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association.

Sacharoff also said there is no additional conversation about the train noise, but further administration details will be discussed at the next Lettered Streets neighborhood association meeting on June 10.