To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Public Works, Legal and Town Manager’s Office
Title
Discussion / Direction: Downtown Railroad Quiet Zone
Body
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Executive Summary
In response to Council direction at the meeting on October 6, 2015 staff has prepared a review of the Downtown quiet zone issue. This memorandum, and the attached staff report, is meant to provide you with background information on the federal train horn rule, the relative safety of the various options to create a quiet zone, along with the various potential costs of treatment options and the associated risks to a quiet zone designation.
In 2006 the Federal Department of Transportation through the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a new federal law that governs the sounding of train horns at all public grade crossings. This law is known as the “Train Horn Rule” and establishes not only the requirements to sound train horns, but also how to establish “Quiet Zones”. The focus of the rule is to maximize safety at public crossings where vehicles and pedestrians need to cross directly over the tracks (at-grade crossing).
The rule requires train horns to be sounded between 15 - 20 seconds in advance of public highway at-grade crossings. For the three crossings in the downtown area, this can result in a horn sounding duration of close to 45 seconds. The following is meant to illustrate the relative safety that various crossing treatments provide, with the safety increasing to the right.
The crossings at Second and Third Streets have lights and gates and fall into the general safety category shown in the green arrow above. The crossing at Fifth Street has median treatments on either side of the crossing along with lights and gates. This crossing falls into the general safety category shown in the pink arrow above.
The remainder of the rule governs how communities can establish “Quiet Zones” at crossings. There are four methods that communities can choose from. Each has different pros and cons that are discussed in the attached staff report. Since the federal rule is geared toward public safety at crossings, if a quiet zone is established, the safety that is reduced by removing the train horn needs to be increased with certain improvements at one or more of the crossings within the quieted zone. As such, the requirements in the federal rule focuses on the two types of crossings shown in bold below.
It’s estimated that the establishment of a quiet zone in the downtown area could take as long as two to three years once a concept is approved to pursue. This is due to concept development, coordination with stakeholders (regulatory and non-regulatory), and notification requirements. Total cost to implement would be dependent on the method chosen, but estimates run between the tens of thousands of dollars up to approximately $900,000.
Budget Impact
There is no budget impact with this discussion item. The attached staff report provides general financial options associated with the variety of treatment options. If Town Council directs staff to move forward with a preferred concept, staff will make adjustments to the 2016 budget and review this with Town Council as part of the 2016 first quarter amendment.
Staff Recommendation
This agenda item is for information and feedback purposes only.
Attachments
Attachment A: Staff Report
Attachment B: DDA Letter