Noisy Train Horns in Missoula Will Soon Be a Thing of the Past

A little while back, we posted a story about the increasing problem of Missoula's incredibly loud train noise, and noted that the city may finally be trying to do something about it.

Well hey, it looks like they're sticking to that promise, because according to the Missoulian, the city is officially getting ready to implement a plan to decrease train noise in the lower Rattlesnake and downtown neighborhoods of Missoula.

Now how does that work exactly?

As we've gone over before, trains are required by law to sound their horns when traveling through a public crossing, but they can use an alternative system instead if there's one in place.

So, Missoula just had to figure out what that alternate system was going to be. The plan is to install new wayside horns at the crossing - it'll still sound like a train horn, but it'll be much quieter and have much less reach than the noise that currently blares out when a train passes through. With these new horns, you should only be able to hear them at the railroad crossing, instead of throughout the entire community.

There's no specific timeframe on when the new horns will be installed, but the hope is to have the entire project ready and finished within a few months. And then, many Missoulians will finally be able to rest at night with the knowledge that a 2 AM train passing through town isn't going to wake them up with a loud BWAAAAAAAMMMMM.

How do you feel about the new plan for Missoula's train noise problem?