As a town with five railroad crossings, Smithville hears its share of train horns throughout the day and night. Some residents have asked city officials to prohibit horn-blowing at night but with costs for quiet zone safety regulations estimated about $1.2 million, Smithville isn’t likely to get any quieter.

"I know it frustrates the citizens because it seems the horns have gotten louder, but bottom line: We don’t have the money," City Manager Robert Tamble said, adding that any extra funds the city has will be used toward much-needed drainage projects.

However, closing the central Taylor Street rail road crossing to city traffic, for which quiet zone retrofitting is estimated at $800,000, would get the city closer to the ability to pay for the transition at the other four.

While Union Pacific would prefer this option in managing the five tracks that cross the area, Tamble doesn’t think this is a feasible option.

Fire Station No. 2 was built on the south side of the tracks on Taylor Street in case all crossings were closed when an emergency occurred on that side of town, but the closing of the crossing to traffic would mean additional difficulties in getting those firefighting resources north when needed.

"It’s also a major artery for traffic from the north and south side of town," Tamble said.

The ability of a railroad crossing to qualify for conversion to a quiet zone depends on risk factors defined by the Federal Railroad Administration. Those include number of accidents, safety devices, train speed and trains per day.

Union Pacific does not pay for conversion to quiet zones. All costs would have to be paid by the city.

All the rail road crossings in town would need to be retrofitted in some way, Tamble said, to qualify for Union Pacific Railroad program, based on a 2015 analysis.

Physical barriers would have to be installed in the roadway median to prevent motorists and pedestrians from going around the railroad crossing barrier. In addition, tracks without crossing arms, like two of the tracks at Taylor Street, would need to be retrofitted with signal barriers.

And some roads within a certain distance of the train intersection would also have to be closed, officials said.

The city would likely also shoulder costs associated with the installation of signage and traversable medians at the crossings in town to lower the safety risk index to qualify for a quiet zone.

Though the nearby cities of Caldwell, Flatonia and Waelder now have quiet zones, they already had safety gates and constant warning devices installed when they made the transition, said Tim Sanders with BEFCO.

Tamble said the western crossing in Smithville would be the easiest and cheapest to change to a quiet zone crossing, estimated to cost $15,000. However, Tamble, who lives by that intersection, doesn’t think the town is ready due to costs.

"I knew the train was here when I built my house," he said. "It’s just part of living in Smithville."