Can you tell me what town or how I can get more info? We have two crossings in our town and quiet zones have been discussed but it seems complicated and expensive.
Probably need to do a direct message or conversation for all the details. The overall process f'ing blows. Typical government. Some info:
- Gotta work with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to figure out what is needed at the crossing to qualify as a quiet zone.
- Township creates the design and the FRA approves
- Township needs to foot the bill for the work
- However, the owner of the tracks has to conduct the work and they own the final product (i.e., the gating system and any curbing/medians).
- Also, even after approval of the plan, FRA gives the track owner up to 2 years to complete the work
- Once the work is completed, FRA does the inspection and certifies that the new crossing is compliant with quiet zone standards.
- After this, railroad maps, books, signs are updated.....which seems to take 6-9 months
- Only then do the horns stop blowing (or it is more accurate to say, the horns start to taper and then eventually stop)
From start to finish, this takes 3-4 years to complete. There are also some other weird rules around crossings that are very close together and how they can be "linked" with improvements, etc.
If you want to dive more into this topic, I can connect you with our township administrator. He knows all the gory details of the process!
😁