Train horn quiet zone established at another crossing

Another train horn quiet zone has been established within Vancouver city limits.

Dan Swensen, the city’s engineering and construction services manager, said Wednesday that the routine sounding of horns at the Chelsea Avenue crossing east of Wintler Park are scheduled to cease by the end of November.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration’s “Train Horn Rule,” horns must be sounded for 15 to 20 seconds before entering all public crossings, but not more than one-quarter mile in advance. In designated quiet zones, a horn can still be blown to avoid accidents, but the routine sounding of horns is eliminated.

The city has been studying quiet zones since 2005, when the agency approved the concept, and has been working with it, BNSF Railway and several citizen advocacy groups to establish train horn quiet zones.

Barring potential dangers that would cause an engineer to sound the horn, once the Chelsea Avenue quiet zone takes effect, there should be no train horns blown from the eastern city limits all the way west past downtown, Swenson said.

At least 60 trains pass through a day, he said.

He said drivers and pedestrians should always look for approaching trains and never try to cross tracks when warning gate arms and warning bells are activated.

The crossing at Chelsea Avenue already had warning gates and bells, but to establish a quiet zone, the city had to take additional measures, Swensen said.

“The idea of the medians is to try to keep (motorists) from going around the gates,” Swensen said.

It cost less than $10,000 to install median curbing, vertical reflector panels and pedestrian access improvements for people who take a path to Wintler Park.

Three of the city’s quiet zones at public crossings — Southeast 139th, 147th and 164th avenues — were paid for by owners of 467 parcels near the Columbia River, who formed a local improvement district to pay for the necessary upgrades. The city also has undertaken projects that eliminated train horns at Southeast Beach Drive, West Eighth Street and West Jefferson Street.