Marki and I are writing in strong support of our mayor, city council and city administrator with their project that is leading the way for “Quiet Zones” on the Union Pacific Railroad track crossings in Marshalltown.

We have been watering the Main Street flowers every day this week. We start by filling the water tank around 5 a.m. at the law office of Mayor Joel Greer. His firm has been kind enough to offer a storage facility and the water use for our downtown flowers project. While working this early morning, 2.5 hour project, we have regularly heard the devastating noise of the many trains coming through town. While loading our equipment, we are very close to the many families living in the downtown area. The terrible noise of some 656 locomotive horn blasts per day is very negative for our community as we are trying to move Marshalltown forward.

A “Quiet Zone” has been attempted in prior years but not completed. We strongly believe that quality of life is an important issue and it is absolutely the time to do it now. We very much appreciate the work our city leadership is moving forward with this matter.