TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- Tupelo city officials say they know train operators are required by law to blow their whistles for public safety reasons.
But they can be a nuisance for residents and businesses near the railroad tracks.
That's why the city is studying the possibility of making parts of Tupelo quiet zones.
"We'd have to get MDOT approval," said Darrell Smith, the city's chief operations officer. "We'd have to get railroad approval. Then we'd have to order the gates. It takes about a year to get the gates."
He added it would also take about $3 million. That would be $250,000 per crossing.
The quiet zone idea is not without precedent as other Mississippi cities have already made the move.
In fact, city leaders and MDOT have studied every crossing in the city for about six months now.
"We had the railroad people in here Friday," Smith continued.
And they will come back with recommendations in two or three months.
Smith said the trains blow their whistles throughout the city of Tupelo almost 20 times a day.
