'No whistle' crossing needed at Birch Point

After reading about BNSF’s plans for improving the railways along the high line it occurred to me that this might be a good opportunity to have them include an upgraded, “no whistle” crossing at Birch Point.

In the most heavily populated part of Whitefish lies the only crossing in Whitefish that is a “no whistle” crossing. With the ever increasing train traffic this is becoming ever more stressful to many of our residents. We “get used to it” up to a point, but there is never a time when the whistles aren’t demanding to be heard – day and night. I can tell you I know the 2 to 6 a.m. schedules almost by heart even though it is during sleep hours. Those whistles are always there to be heard.

When I moved to Whitefish over 30 years ago there were about half as many trains every day as there are now.

Often, especially in summer when doors and windows are open, conversations are interrupted until the train whistles are completed. It is definitely a noise pollution situation.

We may not be able to control the oil tankers and completely avert that potential danger to our community, but in return — as in “what goes around, comes around” — an upgraded “no whistle” crossing to help improve our quality of life in terms of noise, safety and stress should be a reasonable trade off.

I would like to see our city address this issue with BNSF and insist on this upgrade to help lessen the impact of the ever increasing traffic on their tracks to the citizens living in the center of Whitefish, and I hope others will join the pressure to do so.

In my opinion, at a time when BNSF company is spending money to improve the tracks for their increasing business and revenues, a relatively small portion should be spent here in Whitefish to improve the safety and noise at this crossing. If others see this as an issue worth pursuing, I would like to encourage them to make their voices heard.

— Heather Mull