Fort Collins train quiet zone still in limbo

Fort Collins motorists received good news Monday when it was announced train traffic will be reduced on one of the city's lines. However, Fort Collins officials and residents are still awaiting a decision on a petition to quiet train horns in the heart of the city.

The Federal Railroad Administration heard the petition at an Aug. 29 safety board meeting, but a final decision is pending. In September, FRA spokesman Mike Booth said there was no progress to report on the decision on the waiver. Since then, Matthew Lehner with the FRA told the Coloradoan Wednesday there is still no update.

But at a meeting of state and local elected officials and railroad representatives held Monday at the Coloradoan, a representative of U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet's office said the Colorado Democrat's staff is in "weekly contact" with the FRA and believes it is in the final stages of reaching a decision.

In March, city officials submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration a waiver of the rule that requires crossing gates at intersections inside a designated “quiet zone’’ for train horns. The city argues it has already completed "extensive work" improving the safety of a 1.16-mile long corridor from the Colorado State University campus to College Avenue and Cherry Street, according to a news release.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks cross 12 intersections along the proposed quiet zone. Of those, two meet FRA requirements for warning lights and gates to be part of a quiet zone.

Sara Cassidy, public affairs director for Union Pacific Railroad, said Monday that horns are entirely for safety reasons. She called them, "The only tools we have to alert pedestrians and drivers that we're approaching."

RAILROADS: Train crossings source of increasing pollution

The railroads are under strict regulations from the FRA, but Cassidy said, "Even if we had the opportunity to change the rules, I don't know that there's an alternative (to train horns)."

Fort Collins City Councilman Gerry Horak disagreed, saying, "We might be doing (train horns) because of safety, but we don't need to be doing it for safety."

According to a study Horak and City Manager Darin Atteberry cited, the probably of an accident between trains and vehicles or pedestrians in Old Town is one in every 100-plus years.

"It doesn't make sense to us," Atteberry said. "We don't see train horns as romantic in Fort Collins. We see them as a serious detriment to to business and the quality of life."

At the meeting Monday, Loveland Mayor Cecil Gutierrez said the train noise keeping people up all night is "a health issue." Loveland conducted a study in 2009 and found implementing a quiet zone would cost the city $10 million. Gutierrez said the city expects that cost is 20 percent more now.

"I live between two crossings," Gutierrez said. "I can guarantee you: BNSF's business is booming."

There are 13 quiet zones in Colorado. Windsor is in the process of establishing a quiet zone for all 13 Great Western Railway crossings that stretch across the town of 20,422, said Kelly Unger, communications specialist and assistant to the town manager. The town was awarded a $3.3 million grant from the FRA in September 2013, but didn't receive the funds until September 2014. Unger said the quiet zone is expected to be in place by September 2016.