Posted on 06/16/2010 8:32:40 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
For people trying to sleep overnight at Prospects Courtyard, the outdoor area at the Haven for Hope homeless center, several nuisances conspire to keep them awake.
Beetles. Mosquitoes. Thin mats that provide little buffer against the concrete.
But the biggest deterrents to a good night's rest are the trains that come rumbling down the Union Pacific tracks alongside the campus. They run during the night and into the morning, horns blaring.
“It's like they're coming right down on top of you,” groused a homeless man who'd spent a wide-awake night in the courtyard recently.
Haven officials knew from the start that the trains were going to be a problem, said CEO George Block. The campus has tried to establish a “quiet zone” so train conductors would refrain from blowing their horns there in the middle of the night.
“We keep these people really busy during the day, so they have to be able to sleep at night,” said Block of his courtyard residents. “Also, with some guys in Prospects, if a train wakes them up at 2 a.m. they're suddenly looking for a bottle or a drug dealer.”
Creating a quiet zone entails a number of things, chief among them is modifying crossings to include medians that prevent cars from going around train track barriers. Hence, no need to blow the whistle.
After dozens of meetings, most players were on board, Block said. Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz signed off. Councilman David Medina, in whose district the tracks lie, approved and even wanted to extend the zone past the homeless center. Union Pacific was fine with it. The city said it was a good idea. Even the state agreed to chip in money.
One roadblock remains: Some officials with the county believe a quiet zone would disrupt access to the Bexar County Jail.
By law, no driveway can be within 60 feet of the medians. The jail driveway by the Martin Street tracks breaches that distance.
“The issue is having access to the loading dock and sally port on the west side of the jail,” said Betty Bueché, facilities division manager with the county. “Law enforcement vehicles carrying prisoners use that access, as do fire trucks, emergency vehicles and 18-wheelers. My fear is if we move that driveway, the vehicles will have to travel into the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Block said at meetings county officials objected to moving the driveway because it would rob the jail of parking spaces. But Ortiz identified two locations near the jail that could serve as low-cost parking options.
Bueché said parking has nothing to do with the impasse. In fact, the jail is going to build a parking area with more than 900 spaces.
“Moving the driveway is something that will seriously affect jail operations,” she said.
Ortiz said there are alternate routes truckers and law enforcement officers can take to get to the jail that won't take them through neighborhoods, and that the driveway issue may be as simple as “moving it to an angle instead of a right turn.”
Block said Medina has already targeted $30,000 in his budget to make quiet-zone improvements to Leal Street, on the north side of the campus. Haven is willing to pay $150,000 to make similar upgrades to Hardberger Way. The state has agreed to spend $175,000 to update Martin Street, the most involved makeover.
Until the quiet zone dustup is resolved, one set of clients will be barred from Haven: canines.
“The vets at our kennels said it would be cruel and inhumane to subject dogs' ears to the trains,” Block said.
Bueché said another meeting on the issue will be held in late June.
You have got. To be kidding.
As a society, we are unraveling.
Truly. It’s hard to imagine such a great country, can implode so effectively, so quickly.
Was this how it happened to Rome?
Sheesh! What’s the matter with me? Did I say a Million Dollar facility.
Need to add zeroes.
As in a HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR shelter.
$100,000,000.00
(my bad)
A policy of “Shoot the Homeless” would make more sense.
Who sold the land to the city? Or did the city already own it?
Hard for a private property developer to get people to buy homes right next to a train yard (but not hard to get them to buy into an industrial warehouse zone, tell they are “artist lofts” and charge $1200 a month).
I have a train near me. It blows often. I don’t even notice anymore..so this is BS. Sumbudy is wanting money or land grab.
Why didn’t they build a school for the deaf next to the train yard?
And $100,000,000 was spent. To connected interests. Someone got the contract to build. Someone was sent out to inspect. Etc. Kick it back to the ones that gave it to you, come election time.
They need to stay awake:
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/23124646/detail.html
In the article: A homicide detective determined that there were no signs of foul play and that the woman was likely homeless.
Well by all means let’s just stop the trains entirely so these people can enjoy a refreshing night’s sleep in their deluxe accommodations courtesy of the taxpayer.
If it costs so much why are they sleeping outside?
BTW, how can they be homeless if they have a place to live?
After awhile, I stopped noticing the noise. Maybe because I was so dog tired from a day's work that I was ready to sleep.
When we were able to move to a quiet neighborhood, my wife (who had gotten used to the road noise as well) had trouble getting used to the sound of crickets chirping and frogs croaking. We still laugh about it.
Does anyone know where this is?
Anyone??
“(homeless men) have to be able to sleep at night”
They should become bums or hobos then. From what I’ve seen those guys sleep more than cats.
$100,000,000.00
You.Have.Got.To.Be.Kidding.
If you've been there, you know what I'm talking about. Slept like a baby.
No problem. Just get Hussein to sign an executive order outlawing trains! After all, some wino getting another 30 minutes of sleep is FAR more important than a few hundred billion dollars worth of stuff moving over the rails!!
Another unintended consequence of the brilliance of Willie Green!!!
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