We should have negotiated RR quiet zones Downtown
l3wis Rapid City is showing they have a lot more vision than Sioux Falls by proposing quiet zones Downtown;
The city’s railroad quiet zone task force will meet next week to discuss funding for the project. A final report is expected within the next two months.
City officials will need to file a notice of intent with the Federal Railroad Administration and railroad companies once a quiet zone option is approved.
Harrington said Rapid City would be the first town or city in the state to implement a railroad quiet zone policy should it move forward.
As I have stated numerous times, the RR Redevelopment Project in DTSF was one of the worst negotiated projects in the history of the city. Besides the fact that we probably bought land from the RR that we probably already owned (Federal easements) we did nothing to limit train traffic DT or at least limit the noise. Of the millions we handed over to the RR for basically $62 a square foot dirty land, we didn’t have the vision to set aside some money to create quiet zones downtown. This SHOULD have been a part of the deal.
DECIBAL PROBLEM STILL OCCURRING DOWNTOWN
I was surprised to see the problems are still around;
Neitzert said he may wait to see if the ICON has any issues throughout the summer and in the meantime, slow the tempo on composing a new ordinance, but still thinks downtown maybe eventually need to change its key.
“It does seem like downtown needs something different, because the noise ordinance is written really well for other areas that aren’t mixed use, neighborhoods that are all residential,” Neitzert said. “But again the question is, what is the something?”
Ironically its airplanes, trains and first responders that cause the most noise, the decibel level does need to change downtown, funny how this stuff gets killed without little explanation. Kind of like moving public input without an informal public meeting about it. I had the opportunity to go inside one of the bigger condos in the building. While this one did not have a west side patio, it did have several west side windows. I was there for about an hour and the only sound I could hear from outside was a faint police car siren that was driving past the coliseum, but it was so faint you would not even notice it. I’m thinking having the patios on the west side are what may be causing some of the noise issues. My suggestion? Close you patio door.
