WHITE ROCK - In an effort to have the frequency of passing train whistles decreased, the City of White Rock has installed three concrete bollards at the West Beach boat launch.
The installation of the bollards came about following meetings between the city, Transport Canada and rail owners BNSF, said Coun. Grant Meyer, chair of the city's rail safety task force.
"(The bollards) were what Transport Canada wanted and that was basically to restore the nighttime whistling to the way it was," said Meyer.
Since the early 1990s the train whistling between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. had always been kept at a minimum as per an agreement between the three parties. That changed in the past year following the death of jogger Anita Lewis, who was hit while jogging across the tracks on East Beach in July 2013.
Since that time, Transport Canada, the city and BNSF have been engaged in talks to best ensure public safety while at the same time, trying to keep disruptive train whistling at minimum for residents.
However, after numerous complaints from residents saying the frequent whistling has become unbearable, measures are being taken to find that balance.
The bollards, said city manager Dan
Bottrill, are part of that process.
"The city continues to respond to resident concerns around rail safety," said Bottrill. "Our ongoing improvements will permit us to maintain our long-standing whistle exemption during the night."
Meyer said the bollards would also be removable and talks were ongoing about possibly having them removed during the day to allow residents to continue using the boat launch, with them being put up at night.
"That would work for the people that use the boat launch and also establish back to the old days," he said.
"It's what we've been hearing from people over the past few months. People want access to our beach and to get whistling to a reasonable level."
As for emergency access, Meyer said police, firefighters and other response teams would likely have keys to remove the bollards for beach access, as would the city and BNSF.
"So this should bring it back to one honk 20 seconds before a train gets to the beach either way and that's it," said Meyer.
Additionally, Meyer noted the city has been in frequent talks with Transport Canada and BNSF to find a long-term solution to the issues and is optimistic about the direction those talks are headed.
"I think we're working towards a few more tweaks on the beach and we can hopefully get the daytime whistling back to what it was as well," he said.
"There's still the option of having arms come down with flashing lights and bells but we're not crossing that road yet. This is just about making sure its safe and getting back that nighttime whistling cessation that had originally stood."
cpoon@thenownewspaper.com