Resident urges Long Branch to pursue railroad quiet zone in Elbiran, cites health research

Maurice Dan, a Long Branch resident (161 Lincoln Avenue, Apt. 2), used his public-comment time on Nov. 26 to urge the city to consider establishing a railroad quiet zone in Elbiran. Dan told the council he had reviewed excerpts of a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) report and cited World Health Organization research linking transportation noise to cardiovascular effects, sleep disturbance and other health harms.

Dan told the council that train horns are commonly at least 90 decibels and said long-term exposure to sustained elevated noise levels has been associated in studies with increased blood pressure and other physiological changes. He asked whether the city had previously discussed a quiet zone in Elbiran and said he would return with additional materials if staff requested more information.

Council and staff offered to have an administrator follow up: staff said the business administrator would return calls the following week and that Dan should expect contact. No formal council direction or motion to study a quiet zone was recorded in the transcript during the meeting.

What happens next: city staff agreed to have the business administrator contact the speaker; any formal study or ordinance to create a quiet zone would require staff research, potential coordination with the railroad and a council action at a future meeting.