The City of Frisco has completed the process to establish a railroad ‘quiet zone,’ which will take effect at five railroad crossings in the city beginning Wednesday, January 5. The ‘quiet zone’ designation means train engineers will no longer sound a train’s horn when approaching the following street-level crossings, except in the case of an emergency:

• Southbound Dallas Parkway
• Northbound Dallas Parkway
• Frisco Square Boulevard
• Main Street
• All Stars Avenue

“Some of Frisco’s neighborhoods developed around rail lines that have been operating for decades,” said Brian Moen, Assistant Director of Engineering Services/Transportation. “ Unless a crossing is designated as a ‘quiet zone,’ federal law requires train engineers to sound the horn 15 to 20 seconds prior to reaching a crossing. The ‘quiet zone’ designation will stop most of the unwanted train noise for these residents.”

The City of Frisco has been working since 2007 with the help of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) to make intersection improvements and upgrades at the railroad crossings that would meet the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Train Horn Rule design and certification requirements . To meet FRA standards, the city had to make sure each crossing had certain supplemental safety measures in place including gates, flashing lights and median barriers.

 “Once the quiet zone is in effect, motorists still need to follow the same safety rules they have always followed at railroad crossings,” said Moen.  “Trains are approaching these crossings when the gates are down even though the horns can no longer be heard. You should never attempt to go around or under an active railroad gate.”

In addition, warning signs indicating there is no train horn will be installed on January 4 before the ‘quiet zone’ takes effect. Train engineers may still sound the horn to provide warning to animals, vehicle operators, trespassers or crews on other trains in an emergency situation.

During the first few weeks of the quiet zone, it is possible that residents will occasionally hear the train horn sounded at these crossings.  It can take time for all of the train engineers to receive information that a quiet zone has been established.  If residents continue to hear the horn after the first few weeks, they can notify the City of Frisco Engineering Department at 972-292-5400.

One of the first opportunities for the residents of Frisco to meet the 2010 Frisco City Council candidates is Friday, April 16. The Collin County Gay and Lesbian Alliance is holding a meet and greet from 6:30- 8:30 p.m. at 10826 Wilton Drive in Dominion at Panther Creek.

CCGLA Board Member Jeanne Rubin said that all six candidates have responded that they will be at the event. Each of the candidates will be given approximatley five minutes to speak and will have a few mintues to answers  questions after they speak. Rubin said she wants there to be time left over at the end for people to socialize and go meet and ask additional questions of the candidates they are interested in.

Candidate literature and yard signs will be on hand for residents to take home. More information can be found at http://www.ccgla.org/

Frisco city council elections were finalized on May 9th, 2009 with Bob Allen and Patrick Fallon both winning by huge margins. Bob Allen won with 88.6% of the vote. Mr. Allen has served on Frisco city council in the past and did not get much campaign competition from Harold Colvin for Frisco Place 1.

The race for Frisco Place 3 was a little more competitive. Four people threw their hat in the ring for Place 3. Mr. Patrick Fallon won place 3 with 57.35%  of the vote and was able to avoid a runoff Election. Patrick Fallon, in his first political race, ran a campaign with the expertise and moxie of a veteran politician.

Congratulation to Mr. Allen and Mr. Fallon. Frisco has elected two fine men to represent them and we wish them the best of luck.

Unfiltered from the Candidate about the need to work with cities near Frisco.

Frisco – City Council Candidate Tim Nelson announced his opposition today to the recent rezoning action taken by the City of Little Elm.

On March 15, 2011, The Little Elm City Council voted in favor of rezoning a 110 acre area from light industrial to multi-family. This area is directly adjacent to the Frisco subdivision of The Trails and sits on the Little Elm side of the border between the two cities. While the floodplain will render roughly 40 of those acres unusable, the remaining will be used for high density apartments.

Nelson stated, “Two things are clear from this decision. The first is that we need to have a better relationship with the Mayor and council in Little Elm. I think Frisco was surprised by this decision and that is clearly an area where work needs to be done. The second is that there is no doubt the density of having 700-1200 apartments going up directly next door to our homeowners will have a negative impact.”

“Cities typically make decisions with the long run in mind. I believe this decision is a quick fix that will have lasting implications for both Frisco and Little Elm and caution should be exercised. It is not too late to step back, gather the facts, and revisit in a way that would build better relations between our two cities. Further, I call on my opponents in the Place 5 race to join with me in opposing this project and hope that they are willing to do so.”

Election Day is Saturday, May 14th, 2011.

You can learn more about Tim by going to his website at http://votefortim.org.
You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com//Vote_For_Tim

or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elect-Tim-Nelson-for-Frisco-City-Council-Place-5/186917971342578.

For more information, please contact Chrissy Obenberger at 972-632-8221