Comments on: Light Rail Noise

By: Light Rail TOO LOUD!

Light Rail TOO LOUD! — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:43:36 +0000

THE BELLS AND RINGING ARE TOOO LOUD!!! I live a couple blocks away from MLK. The bells need to be turned waay down. I can hear them ringing throughout my house day and night. After many complaints they have adjusted the bells which were ringing at night (up to 1am).

It is driving me crazy in my own house and bringing down adjacent home values, rather than increasing them. I am hopeful they are still working on it!

For any other people being driven crazy or finding it too loud from inside their house near MLK, I’ve been told to send complaints to:

Johnathan H. Jackson
RSIP Manager
Link Light Rail Department
206.398.5272

Darlene Pahlman
City of Seattle Signal/Bell Lead
or
City’s Signal Engineers

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:45:05 +0000

Just have returned from NYC – there IS something special about the noises in the subway there. Deafening and reassuring at the same time?

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:42:00 +0000

Not to mention the noise of the Blue Angels over Seattle each summer – THAT we can do without!

By: k-lo

k-lo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:53:27 +0000

I would actually say that from 10 blocks away, I can still hear just the sound of link trains running. I’m not saying it bothers me, but I do hear it distinctly.

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:09:46 +0000

No, those are full size noise walls that block your view. What I’m describing looks like the ones used in the Vancouver and in Bangkok Skytrains, both mostly elevated systems.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:55:38 +0000

Oran, we’ve got those in one or two spots near I-5 and 599, don’t we?

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:54:59 +0000

THAT bugs me. Those motorcycles drown anything out.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:54:00 +0000

While I wish it could be 20 decibels quieter, I really love the sound of the NY Subway.

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:52:55 +0000

They might be testing the bells? I didn’t think they were going to sound them on elevated sections…

By: Ben Schiendelman

Ben Schiendelman — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:51:17 +0000

I daresay that if I put you two blocks from Link, you won’t be able to hear it.

By: Lightning

Lightning — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:45:11 +0000

I guess I’m the only one who seems not to mind the bells. Now I’ve only been in the DSTT two or three times since testing began in earnest. I thought I liked them, but will listen more attentively. Maybe I’ll get them to annoy me :)

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:24:51 +0000

That area is mostly fill and the tracks are closer to the surface so vibrations are amplified.

By: Oran Viriyincy

Oran Viriyincy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:23:06 +0000

In some other cities they have curved noise barriers on the elevated sections that cover the lower part of the train.

By: David in Burien

David in Burien — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:18:56 +0000

I dunno…I travelled in Japan and I clearly remember the bells at the crossings. It became one of the emblems of my trip there such that when I used to watch Japanese soaps (I was trying hard to learn Japanese), hearing those bells in the background really reminded me of being there, in those urban/suburban neighborhoods off the tourist track.

By: David in Burien

David in Burien — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:12:56 +0000

I’m with Ben and Andrew. When I went to law school in San Diego, I lived in Mission Beach in the flight path for San Diego’s airport. I distinctly remember having to wait for flights to clear during phone calls and intermittently not being able to hear the TV. That’s noise. LRVs? Not so much.

By: Chris Stefan

Chris Stefan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:14:57 +0000

What’s been most noticeable to me since they’ve been testing is the low frequency vibration. I’ve felt it downtown from street level especially around the International District station. But then you also feel the BNSF and Amtrak trains going through the GN tunnel and down the mainline along King Street Station and Qwest Field.

Other than the “bell” there really isn’t anything that would annoy me that much even if I lived right next to the tracks.

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:09:00 +0000

well the thing is, if ST elevates the track in Bellevue (outside of Downtown) then there are no crossing gates, and therefore no bells at crossings either from the train or the gates. Then the only irrating noise is the train wheels on the track as it goes around a tight curve. But with an elevated track, it’s possible to make the curves a bit wider and then wha-la! Less noise!

East Link is not going to rise/fall on track noise or gate crossing noise. The floating bridge technology is the key one and funding for the downtown Bellevue tunnel key two, which IMO is key to getting the city to buy in and fully support it. Then elevate the rest all the way to Redmond. You’ll get no noise complaints once you leave the Downtown Bellevue area the rest of the way it passes through light industrial. It may be zoned for residential but it’s not now and with the economy still in the long grind back up is unlikely to change anytime soon.

By: wes kirkman

wes kirkman — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:08:14 +0000

I suppose you and your neighbors would rather the pleasant sounds of honking as pissed off people sit in traffic. I understand, the sound of angry car drivers is a rather pleasant one. Or how about those harley riders that love the sound of their loud engine? That is a good one too. Not like those awful sounding trains.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:43:50 +0000

a couple of blocks away from MLK, the noise is distinctive from the traffic din, if not noticeably louder.

My sister-in-law lives along MLK and says the same thing. The trains seem to have much more of a low frequency component (sort of a whoosh) that travels through the ground and will be difficult if not impossible to mitigate. It’s not what you’d want to hear at your mountain cabin along side the lake but in an urban environment this will likely fall into the background fairly quick. As far as the bells, well she uses a little stronger language than “distinctive”. The bells/horns are warning signals that become useless if they blend into background noise. If people stop paying attention they will be changed to something even more “distinctive”.

Interesting about Tukwila. I haven’t heard the trains down there yet and was wondering what the noise would be like compared to at grade. I was thinking that just based on fewer warning alarms elevated would be preferable but not if elevating the tracks acts like a stadium loud speaker broadcasting the sound to a wider area.

You might be able to sell the bells and whistles to residents in the RV but it’ll never make the grade in Bellevue. “No way, not no how” will there ever be at grade light rail through downtown Bellevue. I seriously doubt elevated will fly either. I think it’s down to a tunnel or nothing (as in no East Link) and I wouldn’t make a bet either way since I have no clue where the money might rain down from.

Staying along the I-405/SR-520 corridor was never on the table. Even the sections that were lost out. But is seems that if the argument is to be made convincingly on the eastside that light rail noise will “blend in” that would be the only sensible option. Last mile connections need to be provided for no matter which alignment you prefer since walk-on customers aren’t a captive audience in Bellevue the way they are in the RV.

By: Andrew Cencini

Andrew Cencini — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:36:02 +0000

u.s. trains do what they do because idiots like the guy who blew a red light onto the train tracks the other day actually somehow win lawsuits