Railroad Quiet Zone Talk Doesn’t Gain Traction
La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn presented the City Council with the process for implementing a railroad quiet zone at a meeting on Monday, Jan. 15.
Councilman Quenten Gonzalez requested the update. Gonzalez said several of his constituents asked him about the possibility of a quiet zone around the railroad tracks. Federal railroad regulations allow cities to implement railroad quiet zones to keep trains from blowing their horns but only if those cities install improved safety features at railroad crossings.
The City considered establishing a quiet zone back in 2012 but eventually decided against it due to cost and safety concerns. Raborn said the City would have to pay a $20,000 application fee to Union Pacific Railroad to even begin the process. Each railroad crossing in town would have to be modified to prevent vehicles from crossing the tracks in the opposite lane when the arms are down.
Raborn said the railroad company would determine what kind of modifications each crossing will need. The changes could be as simple as installing plastic barriers between the lanes or as complex as constructing curbs or concrete barriers between the lanes.
Furthermore, Raborn said the layout of Lafayette Street, which runs parallel to the tracks, complicates the issue.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, the cost per crossing could vary between $30,000 to more than one million depending on the type of safety improvements required. Back in 2012, BEFCO Engineering estimated that the modifications to the crossing on Colorado Street alone would cost a minimum of $290,000.
In addition, Union Pacific Railroad told the City back in 2012 that their train conductors would likely blow the horn anyway anytime they saw a car on Lafayette Street.
“Even after we spend that money, they probably will still blow their horn,” said Mayor Janet Moerbe.
“I do sympathize with the people who live right by the railroad track, because it is noisy,” said Councilman Ken Taylor. “But those horns are there for a very good reason. The horn is there to help people from getting killed, and it happens a whole lot in the United States. I couldn’t vote for eliminating the horns and then live with the fact that someone got run over.”
Gonzalez thanked Raborn for the presentation.
“I was not part of the Council back then, but it was brought up to me by several folks in my ward,” Gonzalez said. “So I wanted to see what we could do to address it. The folks whom it does affect, it affects their quality of life.
“I need to go back to those folks and explain to them,” Gonzalez added. “We could spend all of your money to do this, and it could be quite considerable, but that horn may still blow.”
Gonzalez made a motion to table the item. It passed unanimously.