At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Commission opted not to pursue an engineering study to evaluate possible quiet zones for Newton’s eight BNSF Railway crossings.
The City regularly receives requests from residents to take action to reduce train horn noise. City staff researched two options:
- Complete quite zones – no horns are sounded when trains cross. Crossing arms, lights and bells remain in place.
- Wayside horns – trains do not sound their horns when crossing. Directional horns are mounted on poles at the crossings and the sound is directed down the cross streets. The decibel level of the horns is about the same, but the sound is directed rather than scattered in all directions.
For a quiet zone to be approved, several requirements must be met:
- Each crossing must have gates, flashing lights, warning time devices.
- Must be at least 1/2 mile in total length.
- Must not have a non-quiet zone crossing within 1/4 mile of the first or last crossing in the quiet zone.
- Must include safety specific improvements that reduce the risk at the crossing.
- Must not have any fatality accidents at the crossing within the past five-year period.
Complete quiet zones would require construction or lengthening of medians, closure of adjacent access drives, and fencing to block traffic from driving around the gates – physical improvements that would be costly and potentially disruptive to nearby businesses. Wayside horns likely would not require those modifications, but the City would bear the cost of installation at the crossings, as well as ongoing maintenance and repairs. The cost of wayside horn installation is estimated at $150,000-$270,000 per crossing.
City staff recommended that if the Commission wanted to pursue the project, they should engage a specialized engineering firm, which was estimated to cost $50,000-$60,000. Although Commissioners expressed interest in the study, they agreed this is not the right time to expend the funds because of City budget constraints.
In the meantime, if residents notice that train engineers are sounding horns excessively, complaints can be reported using the Federal Railroad Administration email address, rrswebinquiries@dot.gov. Those reporting will need to provide the time, date and location of the excessive horn noise.
Also, if rail crossings have signals flashing and gates down and there is no rail activity, residents can report it using the blocked crossing incident reporter at www.fra.dot.gov/blockedcrossings or call 1-800-832-5452.
- Awarded a contract for construction of the new Newton Public Library to Dondlinger Construction for $7,805,500. Another bid will take place in January or February for the interior furnishings.
- Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central Kansas Community Foundation to establish the Choose Newton Fund. The fund will allow individuals and businesses to make tax-deductible donations to the beautification efforts of the Choose Newton Main Street program. Targeted projects initially will include a downtown PA system and new Christmas lighting.
- Proclaimed Dec. 30 as Envisioning Your Future Day.
For more information, please contact Director of Communications Erin McDaniel at 316-284-6055 or emcdaniel@newtonkansas.com.
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