South Walkerville man protests ongoing train noise as councillor says 'conversation has started' with feds to address issue

One-man protest to end train whistles in South Walkerville CTV Windsor's Sanjay Maru reports on one man calling for an end to ongoing train whistles disturbing residents at night for months

Following three months of sleepless nights caused by the sound of train whistles loudly going off at random times throughout the day and night, a South Walkerville man says the issue has become "a matter of health."

"We can't have peace. We can't have quality of life. It's a horrible, horrible thing. And I don't use the word harassment lightly," said John West, holding a sign that reads “ESSEX RAIL STOP HARASSING RESIDENTS 7 DAYS A WEEK!!!”

For nearly two hours on a snowy Sunday afternoon, West displayed the sign to drivers passing through the intersection of Benjamin Avenue and Tecumseh Road East — one of many areas in South Walkerville that sees an Essex Terminal Railway (ETR) track cut through it.

West said, on Jan. 20, he logged the number of train whistles he heard between 1 a.m. and 7 p.m. His final tally was 86.

"I'm out here to try to put pressure on City of Windsor administration to follow through on the resolution to contact Essex Terminal Railway and to abide by a resolution to sound the train whistle unless absolutely necessary between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.," added West.

On Monday, a motion put forward by Ward 4 councillor Mark McKenzie was approved by the rest of council, asking city administration to engage in discussions with ETR on how to reduce or eliminate the noise.

"It's tough because trains are nationally regulated. So we’ve got to take some steps but there's only so much the city can do," McKenzie said Sunday.

According to McKenzie, Windsor West MP Brian Masse has "forwarded some concerns" about the ongoing train noise to Canada’s Transport Minister Omar Alghabra — but the councillor adds he doesn’t want the federal government to have to intervene before a resolution can be reached.

"But, if it does come to that, at least the conversation has started," said McKenzie.

McKenzie acknowledged that train whistles are an important safety measure to ensure nearby vehicles and residents know to be mindful of an approaching train.

However, if safety is top of mind for ETR, the railway operator needs to make the crossings safer as well, he added.

"Essex Terminal [Railaway] needs to start putting in the arms that come down at the crossings, some lights and maybe even some fencing because there's none of that currently," said McKenzie.

"If they are going to come back and say, The tracks aren't safe. This is why we're blowing the horn late at night, I think as a good community partner, they need to make the tracks safe for everybody."

As for West, he’s considering pursuing legal action if the noise is not resolved soon.

"I don't have a problem doing that at all. It’s not a threat. It's a promise," said West.

"[ETR] should and must respect the residents to eliminate or decrease the train whistle noise. It's a matter of health and it's caused chronic sleep problems."