Fri Feb 03 2012
by Eric Marotta
News Leader Editor
Macedonia -- Thanks to Hudson resident Greg McNeil, several hundred families in Macedonia, Northfield Center and Hudson could have a quieter night's sleep in coming years.
About $168,000 in federal stimulus funding has been earmarked to help create a quiet zone at Norfolk-Southern Railroad's Twinsburg Road crossing in Macedonia.
It was one of only six Summit County projects that Gov. Ted Strickland announced March 26 would get priority funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
McNeil, not the city of Macedonia, applied for the funds.
McNeil heads an ad-hoc committee of residents who have been pushing since late 2007 for a quiet zone at the Twinsburg Road crossing, where he said 76 trains pass per day.
The committee last year got $7,500 from Hudson, Northfield Center and Macedonia to commission a preliminary engineering study that outlined the requirements for the quiet zone.
Now, thanks to the stimulus funding, officials will also have the $168,000 needed to install barriers and upgrade electrical circuitry at the crossing, eliminating the requirement for trains to sound their horns.
McNeil said March 26 that he applied for the stimulus funding on the state's Web site (http://recovery.ohio.gov) after being pointed in that direction by Summit County Engineer Alan Brubaker and his staff.
McNeil said he and his daughter, Amy, a Kent State University senior, followed instructions posted on the Web site on how to submit the request.
"It was self-explanatory," he said.
McNeil said he also got help from Ohio 41st District Rep. Brian Williams (D-Akron).
Williams said March 26 that McNeil had contacted him months ago about getting funding for the project and was aware McNeil was submitting an online application.
When it came time for the state to select projects for funding, Williams said, he put in a good word with the state's Federal Stimulus Initiative office, which distributed the funds.
"I told them this is a good project and this is one that I support," Williams said.
McNeil said Macedonia Mayor Don Kuchta was also very supportive of the committee's efforts.
Kuchta said McNeil notified him the grant was approved shortly after the Strickland's announcement March 26.
"This man is a resident who, rather than complaining, got on the bandwagon and did something," Kuchta said.
Kuchta said the city has been exploring the idea of establishing a quiet zone at the crossing for several years.
"I must have had a thousand phone calls. We even had police officers down there with decibel meters" monitoring the noise level, Kuchta said.
Both Kuchta and McNeil said they aren't sure how the $168,000 would be awarded.
He said the new circuitry will provide those crossing the tracks the same warning time for fast-moving trains as it does slow-moving trains. The crossing gate and lights are activated when the train is within several hundred feet of the crossing.
In addition, a barrier -- a 100-foot fence of yellow posts -- will discourage drivers from going around the railroad gates.
"The next step is to coordinate a schedule with the Norfolk-Southern people," McNeil said.
E-mail: emarotta@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3171
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