Greeley seeks input on east railroad quiet zone

GREELEY — City of Greeley officials hope to create a quiet zone in east Greeley to alleviate the effects of loud train horns. A meeting to discuss rail cross improvements will be Thursday, 6 to 7 p.m., at the Greeley Recreation Center, 651 10th St., Room 101.

To create a quiet zone along Greeley’s eastern railroad corridor, the city needs to make improvements and changes at each railroad crossing — including possibly closing the Sixth Street railroad crossing.

The Thursday meeting is meant to gather comments and suggestions from residents, business owners and commuters about the proposed quiet-zone designation and crossing changes.

Without the changes, trains are required by law to sound their horn at all crossings to alert nearby drivers and pedestrians — even if no one is around. However, with a quiet-zone designation, trains may sound their horns only in the case of an emergency — such as a person or car on the tracks.

Sarah MacQuiddy, president and CEO of the Greeley Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber would like to see something happen, within reason.

“The chamber hasn’t take a position, she said. “We’ve only been talking about this for 23 years. It’s been our mindset that clearly we would like to cut down the noise impact with the railroad so close to the business community. Then it comes down to how much each quiet zone will cost, so we’ve been waiting for a time when it’s feasible and when people will buy in. We’d love to see this happen — our meetings come to a standstill [when the train horns blow]. I think we can mitigate the noise but safety has to be the number one factor,” she said.
To obtain a quiet-zone designation, Greeley must first make changes to railroad crossings in that area to make sure drivers stay off the tracks when trains are nearby, according to a press release from Tom Hellen, city engineer.

Greeley will not pursue a quiet-zone designation along the city’s northern Great Western railroad corridor but will construct numerous safety improvements, Hellen said. Staff has begun planning safety improvements along Great Western Railroad crossings at 11th, 14th, 35th and 59th avenues, and O Street.

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