The Horns of San Clemente

I have posted pictures on this blog a number of times from our walks along the beachfront trail between North San Clemente beach and the pier. It's a wonderfully scenic spot along the ocean that is also shared by the main north/south rail line between L.A. and San Diego. One of the attractions for me is the occasional passing train.

However, my enthusiasm for trains is not shared by many of the local residents who live in very expensive seaside properties and are subject to train horns night and day:

San Clemente is taking a four-pronged approach in trying to win some peace and quiet for coastal residents frazzled by the sound of train horns day and night.

On a 5-0 vote Tuesday night, the City Council agreed to:

•Spend $40,000 to look at whether it's feasible to build pedestrian underpasses at five places where people presently cross the tracks at grade level, at signalized crossings.

•Arrange for a demonstration in San Clemente of "wayside horns," a stationary horn at a RR crossing that could replace an approaching train having to blow its horn.

•Continue to try to have San Clemente declared a Safety Quiet Zone, using multiple strategies.

•Reinforce the popularity of the city's new coastal trail with a public awareness campaign to make it socially unacceptable to tolerate any trespassing on the tracks.

Local officials said the public's embracing of the new coastal trail has dramatically improved safety along the city's beachfront rail corridor, reversing decades of rampant trespassing and random use of the tracks as a beach access.

But construction of the 2.3-mile trail – with signalized crossings at intervals – coincided with a federal ruling that trains nationwide must blow their horns approaching all crossings. Five new crossings introduced by the trail have led to round-the-clock horn blasts that have unnerved residents and prompted more than 50 people to file claims against the city, demanding relief.

"It's intolerable," Beth Dudas told the council.

Council members appealed Tuesday to residents to work together with the city, rather than be confrontational. "Don't give up on us," Mayor Lori Donchak said. A city staff report told how San Clemente had felt the safety improvements brought by the coastal trail would have been sufficient to establish a Safety Quiet Zone, where train operators no longer have to sound the horn at crossings unless they see danger.

After a detailed report about strategies the city is trying, several residents said they were pleased and want to help. Others said they think underpasses are the only permanent solution, since trains don't blow the horn at grade-separated crossings and a Quiet Zone can be yanked if someone trespasses and is killed by a train.

Two residents asked the City Council to try to get the railroad rerouted inland of San Clemente.

Gary Chronister, leader of a group called QUIET, said residents are prepared to take legal and punitive action to get relief but also are willing to work with the city if the city will invite their involvement.

Trains have been operating down this line since probably the 1920s or earlier. Most, if not all, of the homes along San Clemente were built long after that rail line was in operation. The homeowners should have known what they were getting into when they moved there.

The coastal trail has probably changed things a bit. During much of the trail you're close enough to the passing trains to reach out and touch them (though I don't recommend it), and it seems pretty reasonable to me that the train should sound it's horn in the area. A train can come up on you pretty quickly and they're surprisingly quiet until they're very close at hand.

Pedestrian undercrossings might help, but it won't remove all the people in close proximity to the passing trains. There will still need to be warnings for the dummies get too close or try and cross the tracks in unapproved spots.