Comments on: Doing it Right in Downtown Tulsa

By: doug

doug — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 13:49:52 +0000

We live 300′ from the rail road tracks here in East Ky and there is a near constant flow of rail traffic passing each day and night. Each train blows it’s whistle long and hard as they pass. At times the noise is so loud it actually hurts my ears. It’s easy for one who doesn’t live near a rail road to say “if you don’t like it, move”. This simply isn’t an option for many of us. I’m glad the trains blow their whistles at crossings, but the present volume is over kill. This noise pollution is causing hearing loss, gradual but sure, for thousands of people, especially children. Some cities, I understand, have remotely operated horns that are mounted at the crossings. They blow as a train approaches automatically, at a much reduced volume. This seems to be a much better way to warn citizens of a train approaching.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 04:47:44 +0000

My sense of self-preservation agrees with Kris; I want to know when that thing is coming. Also, if the train horn sounds at 110 dB, then common sense would tell me NOT to live or work that close. The railroad was there first, and it isn’t moving anytime soon.

By: Vince

Vince — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:47:09 +0000

How has OKC not addressed railroad quiet zones yet? Particularly with the growth on 9th Street basically on top of the train tracks, you would think this would have been tried already.

By: Kris Bryant

Kris Bryant — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:23:38 +0000

Which regulations are you referring to? Psychology doesn’t have to teach us to habituate, it’s something we do naturally. Psychology has brought that fact to light. If I lived or worked that close to the train tracks, I’d want to know when it was coming.

By: Wylie H.

Wylie H. — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:43:20 +0000

Train whistles operate at a level of 110 decibels; hearing damage begins in the 90 – 95 decibel level– I’m not sure how psychology can teach people to habituate to sounds at those sorts of extreme levels.

While people living a certain distance away can certainly get used to train whistle noise, that sort of adaptability is impossible (and certainly not desirable) for those immediately adjacent to the tracks. Indeed, existing regulations prohibit exposure to sounds at those decibel levels for more than 30 minutes per day.

By: Kris Bryant

Kris Bryant — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 03:49:49 +0000

With regard to the train noise issue, psychology teaches us that people habituate to those kind of sounds if they are regularly occurring. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

By: Nick Roberts

Nick Roberts — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:48:00 +0000

That’s the bldg with The Hunt Club located on the street level, I think. Cool place–by the way, we all know how damaging it can be in OKC to one’s reputation to laud anything in Tulsa as example-worthy. Beware! lol