Vinings Quiet Zone Update
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I recently got to experience the Vinings new Quiet Zone in person as I was first in line when the train came through.
The quiet zone is based on the installation of a four-quadrant gate system (which you can actually see above) at the crossing to fully block traffic from entering the crossing when the gates are lowered. This system includes at least one gate for each direction of traffic on each approach.
A four-quadrant gate system is meant to prevent a motorist from entering the oncoming lane of traffic to avoid a fully lowered gate in the motorist’s lane of traffic. Because an additional gate would also be fully lowered in the other lane of the road, the motorist would be fully blocked from entering the crossing. (That somewhat wordy description is courtesy of The Federal Railroad Administration, but the following diagram probably gives you a better idea.)
So as I continued to sit there, I realized that indeed it is a Quiet Zone. The train didn’t blast its horn, which didn’t mean that much to me at the time since I wasn’t trying to sleep, but obviously a nice plus for those when they are. And if you’re hanging out at NY Pizza, you may still be able to talk on your cell phone.
However, I have been getting inquiries about regarding the Quiet Zone, specifically related to why people are still hearing the train horns. Is it perhaps that they have supersonic hearing and can detect the horn blows from some distant crossing?
As it turns out, they’re just normal everyday humans (no superpowers) and that the train is still blowing its horn. As you may remember from the previous post on the Vinings Quiet Zone, there are two crossings that were planned to have the new quadrant gates installed, Paces Ferry Road and Woodland Brook Drive. Unfortunately, there is a third, little known crossing in Vinings at Paradise Shoals Road.
There will not be a new quadrant gate system installed at Paradise Shoals Road, rather the road is planned to be realigned to eliminate the crossing completely. According to the Cobb Department of Transportation, which is handling the project, there have been some property issues that needed resolved and this has pushed the project back. The realignment project is currently slated to begin in March of 2009.
Expect future access to this land, which will be redeveloped in the coming years, to be provided from Settlement Road off of Woodland Brook Drive.
So just a few more months and you should all be able to sleep peacefully in the Vinings. In the meantime, if you have any other questions on the Smyrna Vinings area, feel free to contact us.
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