ANN ARBOR, MI – Ann Arbor is still considering whether to spend millions of dollars upgrading railroad crossings so freight trains can pass through the city without repeatedly sounding their horns.

City Administrator Howard Lazarus outlined possible next steps in the “quiet zone” process in a June 14 memo, asking City Council for direction on whether to further pursue the matter.

Lazarus noted the city received nearly 700 responses to an online survey, with 73% saying they accept the impact of train horn noise and recommend no city investment to reduce it.

But some residents in the Old West Side neighborhood next to downtown and the Northside area off Pontiac Trail have voiced concerns about loud horns in the middle of the night.

Unless in a designated quiet zone, federal regulations require trains to sound their horns four times (two long, one short and one long) as they approach and go through each crossing.

That translates to dozens of horn blasts lasting several minutes as trains pass through the city on the Ann Arbor Railroad.

Council directed the city’s staff last year to study the issue, looking at what it would take to meet Federal Railroad Administration safety requirements to create one or more quiet zones.

A consultant’s report earlier this year showed diagrams of which crossings would require upgrades such as new gates and signals, as well as other changes such as medians in streets.

It recommended seven scenarios to consider, including two with crossing closures.

Scenario 1: signal upgrades only – $6.7 million

Scenario 2: “cost effective” upgrades at 19 crossings – $7.1 million

Scenario 3: “cost effective” with Bowen closure – $6.8 million

Scenario 4: “cost effective” with Bowen and Ashley closures – $6.4 million

Scenario 5: highest levels of safety upgrades – $7.9 million

Scenario 6: Quiet zone north of Summit to Dhu Varren – $2.5 million

Scenario 7: Quiet zone south of Summit to State – $4.6 million

Council members have mixed opinions about whether to spend the money on quiet zones.

Jeff Hayner and Anne Bannister, both 1st Ward Democrats, have suggested it’s not worth it.

“Exorbitant prices to buy quiet zones,” Bannister said at an April 15 meeting as council approved another new apartment building along the railroad tracks on Hoover Avenue.

Bannister raised the issue again at a June 3 meeting as council was considering a redevelopment of the DTE Energy property off Broadway Street, including new condos, commercial spaces and a hotel across the Huron River from the freight tracks.

“I’m worried that the city is going to get into a position where we have to buy quiet zones and they’re very expensive,” she said.

David Di Rita, a representative of the Roxbury Group, told council his development team has taken train noise into consideration and he’s not too concerned about it.

“We consider that charm,” he said.

“Well, I do, too,” Hayner said. “I mean, I’ve always lived on the wrong side of the tracks.”

Council Member Chip Smith, D-5th Ward, lives within earshot of the tracks, off Third Street in the Old West Side, and supports spending the money to create quiet zones.

He thinks the various crossing upgrades can be made incrementally over a period of years and there’s potential to negotiate some of them with Watco, the company that owns the tracks.

Smith said he doesn’t buy into the notion that train horns in the middle of the night are romantic.

He said he found interesting a recent cost analysis done by researchers Katherine Crocker and Pascale Leroueil, arguing noise exposure is linked to decreased health and quality of life, as well as reduced work productivity due to lack of sleep.

It’s more costly to the Ann Arbor economy to not convert to a quiet zone than to make the improvements, they concluded.

If the city wants to pursue quiet zones, Lazarus said, the next step is to submit a notice of intent to the FRA, Ann Arbor Railroad, Michigan Department of Transportation and other stakeholders, giving them 60 days to comment.

After that, the city would submit an application to the FRA, and it could take the FRA up to a year to complete a review.

Once approved by the FRA, the city could begin construction of the crossing improvements. The city also would have to install “No Train Horn” warning signs to alert the public.

As of Monday afternoon, June 17, Lazarus said he had not yet received feedback from council on how to proceed.