There is some good news for those who get woken up to the train whistling through Grande Prairie at night; the city is working on it. They are looking into the steps that would need to be taken to create to allow for the city to be train whistle free. Capital planning and construction manager Matt Hinton says the process is all about safety.
“CN requires that they whistle at any crosses that they go through. Even though the crossing have lights and things, they still have to whistle. It is part of their safety for public and safety for the train.”
The city will be looking at putting money in assessments of the intersections with the 2018 budget. After the assessment, they would look at improvement and then a bylaw.
“Before the bylaw, we will need improvements at the crossings. Anything from lights to bells and whistle to crossing arms or fences as well.”
Hinton says once a anti-whistle bylaw is passed, there is always a possibility that the train could still toot its horn if something is on the tracks.