The City of Kamloops has taken the first steps toward eliminating train whistles through the downtown core.

Since the Spring of last year, due to a significant increase in train traffic through the Lorne Street corridor because of a CN contract to carry coal to the coast, locals downtown have been left frustrated by train whistle noise pollution.

Now, City Council has authorized an attempt to secure a grant worth 1.8-million dollars to make upgrades to three uncontrolled crossings so the trains don’t have to blow their whistles as they pass.

The City’s Transportation Manager, Pervez Irani, says if and when the changes are brought in, the crossing bells are going to be a lot less of an issue than the train whistles.

“The bell sound level is about 84 decibels, the whistling is recorded at about 143 decibels.”

Irani says even if the project is to go ahead, it could take three more years to get the work completed, meaning it might not be until 2025 until the whistles come to an end.

He says this as every crossing has to go through an assessment.

“The location, traffic volumes, pedestrians, businesses in the area; every location is unique and also it’s a process that goes through the provincial level and also the federal level,” he explains.

“Both parties have to agree that we can in fact take the whistling out as one of the safety measures.”

Over 100 locals in the downtown core have signed the petition demanding the city take action to put an end to the train whistles.

-With files from Abby Zieverink