Posted Jan 21, 2011, 3:04 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,632
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Whatever it takes, I guess...
Quote:
Montgomery silences riverfront train whistling
By Jill Nolin • [email protected] • January 21, 2011
The Montgomery Advertiser
The complaints may finally be silenced -- along with the trains. And the city is saying the Auburn University football team is part of the reason. Dozens of trains roll through downtown Montgomery each day, bringing with them their cargo, their charm and, for light sleepers at the Renaissance Hotel, a miserable, restless night.
That will change in the next two weeks. On behalf of the city, McInnish has spent the last four months negotiating with the CSX in an effort to help downtown dwellers hear something new at night -- the sounds of silence.
CSX has agreed to have its engineers stop blowing the train whistles at the Coosa Street crossing, which connects to the amphitheater on the riverfront, according to Mayor Todd Strange. But because of federal regulations, there will have to be a trade-off.
Even though the mayor had been hearing complaints about the noise, it was not until Auburn University said it would have to find another location for its football team if the players could not get a good night's rest that Strange decided to take action. "That got my attention," Strange said Thursday, adding that up until then he had mostly accepted the train sounds as being just "the nature of the beast."
Several SEC teams stayed at downtown hotels, such as the Renaissance or Embassy Suites, and that has a significant impact on the local economy. Strange said he also was worried that negative word-of-mouth could cost the city conventions.
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