Greeley leaders are hushing downtown, telling the trains to knock it off and planning to spend upward of $3 million in the process.
The plan, to create quiet zones at 12 downtown railroad crossings, won’t come to fruition for at least two years. But Greeley City Council members Tuesday gave a nod to staff to start seriously working on it.
Staff has already been in action, hiring Texas-based consultant CTC, Inc., to study the issue and write reports.
Based on that consultant’s reports, city staff recommends creating eight quiet crossings — where trains don’t honk their horns — along the Union Pacific Railroad line east of 8th Avenue and west of U.S. 85. The zones would run from 5th to 22nd streets, and this option calls for closing the 6th Street crossing, citing the expense of bringing that crossing up to quiet zone standards.
For these eight intersections, creating a quiet zone means installing concrete medians. Along with gates, the medians prevent cars from maneuvering around and across tracks, therefore ditching the need for train horns.
Read the full story
