River Grove officials are forging ahead with a proposal to establish quiet zones around railroad crossings to cut down on the routine sounding of horns before trains enter crossings.
Trustees passed a resolution at their March 2 meeting, approving a contract with Edwin Hancock Engineering, up to a maximum of $10,000, to help the village move forward on the issue. As part of the effort, the village will first work to establish greater safety measures around crossings, discouraging cars from going around gates and on to the tracks, Village Engineer Mark Lucas told trustees at the meeting.
The move forward on safety issues is a precondition to establishing quiet zones.
“So between Franklin Park and River Grove, there are a number of intersections that have to be improved for safety measures,” Lucas explained..
According to federal law passed in December 2003, the lead end of a train is required to sound a horn 15 to 20 seconds before entering a crossing, trustees were told in the presentation at the March 2 meeting. Trains then sound two long horns and one short horn, which can be repeated until the train clears the crossing, according to information posted at the Federal Railroad Administration’s website.
River Grove and Franklin Park fall between eight closely spaced grade crossings used by a number of trains per day, including freight and Metra. Since beginning the move toward quiet zones in 2013, the village has achieved several milestones, village trustees were told in the presentation. The federal legislation establishing quiet zones didn’t provide funding for public authorities wishing to establish those areas. Communities would have to foot the costs for supplementary safety measures, such as medians or channelization devices to reduce risks at crossings where quiet zones exist.
