An effort to create a “quiet zone” for train horns in Franklin Park and River Grove will take longer than originally thought.
“We were hoping we could get it done in 2015,” said Brad Clark of Hancock Engineering. “It’s looking like late 2016 based on the feedback we got at the meeting the other day.”
Clark was referring to a Jan. 22 meeting between representatives of Metra, Indiana Harbor Belt railroad, Canadian National railroad, Canadian Pacific railroad, IDOT, Illinois Commerce Commission, Federal Railroad Administration, River Grove and Franklin Park. At the meeting, engineers for the two villages proposed implementing safety measures at eight grade crossings over a 2.13 mile corridor. The aim of the changes is to eliminate the use of train horns.
“When the horns go off, the risk goes up in proposed quiet zones,” Clark said. “By implementing these safety measures, you bring up the safety level.”
The safety measure is called channelization. Plastic devices are installed in the road that “channel” car drivers to the train gates and won’t allow drivers to sneak around them.
Engineers think that channelization at four crossings — Thatcher Road, 25th Avenue, River Road and Ruby Street — would decrease the risk sufficiently. It’s the Federal Railroad Administration, however, that makes the decision on whether that’s sufficient. And it takes the railroad administration eight months to review such proposals.
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Before formally submitting a proposal, engineers expect some informal feedback from the railroad administration on their plans. They also plan to talk to other communities that have been through the Quiet Zone process to get cost estimates. Then the villages have to find the money and arrange for installation of channelization devices. Along the way, they need to get approval from the village boards. They also are getting the input of residents through a citizen advisory committee
Making the matter more complex is a requirement that there are no driveways or cross streets within 60 feet of the train gate where channelization devices are used.
Train engineers are required by federal law to sound their horns 15 to 20 seconds before crossing an intersection and can be fined if they do not (they can also be fined for sounding their horns excessively). The horns must be at 96 to 110 decibels. They must be used 24 hours a day.