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September 25,2008

Pearl District Quiet Zone Will Become a Reality

by shooter

After much effort by Pearl residents and developers, the quest to create a railroad quiet zone has finally paid off.  PDC paid for a study to determine the cost of creating a quiet zone, and has allocated money from Urban Renewal funds to pay for the required changes.

The total cost to install the necessary equipment at three crossings is $280,000. PDC has allocated $250,000 and, according to today's Portland Tribune article,  Hoyt Street Properties says that it will pay for half of the project.  As the largest developer in the Pearl District—with a concentration of buildings in the North Pearl—this is a move that makes sense. Many North Pearl residents who live in Hoyt's properties  are affected by the noise, and Hoyt's newest building, The Encore, is right next to the railroad tracks where NW 9th Avenue crosses the tracks at Naito Parkway. 

The quiet zone issue has been loudly contested throughout the neighborhood by fans and protesters alike. As noted in the Trib's article, only crossings within the urban renewal boundaries will be designated as quiet zones. Horns will still sound at neighboring crossings, such as NW 21st Avenue in the Northwest District—so the train whistle will not be completely out of earshot.

Related posts and links:

Portland Tribune - PDC's all aboard for Pearl silence

Quiet Zone in the News

Railroad Quiet Zone

Quiet Zone Task Force Is Making Noise

Trib's Article on the Train Whistle

Chatanooga Choo Choo

posted at 07:57 AM 5 comments
categories: livability
tags: quiet zone, urban renewal
Comments:
Dan - September 25, 2008 06:42 PM
Sweet. I finally can sleep without a pillow over my head ;)
Chris - September 26, 2008 04:17 PM
Sweet. I'll finally be able to walk along Naito without getting my ears blown off. So the Steel Bridge/Naito crossing couldn't be silenced as well? Was this a technical issue or a district issue? The McCormick Pier peeps can't be happy about that.
lynnette - September 26, 2008 05:10 PM
What about all of the other crossings around the city? Many other neighborhoods would like quiet zones!
Jessie - October 01, 2008 11:28 AM
Does anyone know the channels to go thru to get additional crossings added? (Steel Bridge and NW21st)
shooter - October 01, 2008 05:52 PM
Start with Rich Newlands at PDOT, Rich.Newlands@pdxtrans.org. He may not be the right person but he can certainly direct you to the right person. In a conversation with Rich about the crossings, he said that one reason the Pearl quiet zone was approved quickly was that there is an identifiable source of funding, Urban Renewal dollars and that Hoyt Street Properties has committed to pay for half the costs. Also, some of the other crossings have significant issues, such as rerouting a truck route. As for the crossings at NW 21st and the Steel Bridge, I don’t believe either of those crossings are in the River District Urban Renewal Area, so the URA dollars could not be used to upgrade those crossings.
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