If drivers and pedestrians don't start obeying the traffic laws, Jamestown may never get a quiet zone.
"If, as this project finishes up and we put in to formally request a quiet zone from (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway) -- if the railroad feels that the citizens aren't complying, we'll have spent all that money for nothing -- they won't discontinue the horn," said Reed Schwartzkopf, Jamestown city engineer.
Drivers seem especially careless -- or perhaps more willing to break the law -- in the westbound lane of Third Street Southeast where it crosses the railroad tracks.
There, just after the tracks on the left side of the road lies 12th Avenue Southeast, a gravel road. Because there is an opening for trains in the curb-like divider separating the west and east lanes, drivers can make an illegal left turn onto 12th Avenue -- by driving directly onto the path of a locomotive.
"They're not supposed to be short-cutting through there. That is very dangerous," Schwartzkopf warned.
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The city has put up extra signage warning people not to turn left at that location, including a no-left turn sign 300 feet in advance as well as a no-left turn sign at the gap in the divider.
Motorists should instead wait until they reach the end of the curbed divider and then make a U-turn to get to 12th Avenue. A sign has even been put up to remind drivers U-turns are permitted at that location.
Not all drivers are getting the message, however.
"It's the type of thing where they're used to going that way, and for some reason, in this community if we're used to going a certain way and we can see, we think we can do that," Schwartzkopf said, urging people not to drive directly into the path of a train.
Drivers aren't the only ones ignoring the rules, however. Some walkers have been avoiding the pedestrian mazes in the downtown area as well. The mazes are a safety measure, meant to force people to look both ways along the train tracks before they cross them.
The city will be embarking on an education campaign to try to help the public understand how to navigate that railroad crossing as well as the others in the Jamestown area.
In addition, the Jamestown Police Department has been ticketing drivers who make a left turn onto 12th Avenue from Third Street Southeast, despite the two no-left-turn signs and the U-turns-permitted sign.
"What it amounts to is, they don't want to drive another 50 feet and make a U-turn," said Lt. Bruce Judd of the JPD. "They're making a turn where they shouldn't be, because it's going to put them in the wrong lane. Even if they're there for only a second, they shouldn't be there."
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Getting a ticket for disobeying a left-turn-prohibited sign will cost a driver $20, Judd said.
In comparison, the quiet zone project's estimated cost is $389,000.
"I'd hate to see all this money poured into it and not have the horns go goodbye," Schwartzkopf said.
Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453 or by email at klucin@jamestownsun.com
