Silence Will Soon Be Golden in Placentia and Anaheim As State and Local Officials Break Ground for California's Only "Railroad Quite Zone"

After three years of noisy train whistles, officials and residents celebrate the beginning of construction of a "Railroad Quiet Zone." Two communities bothered by train whistles since the mandated use of train horns April 1, 2001 to reduce liability at railroad crossings and intersections.

PLACENTIA, CA (PRWEB) October 25, 2004 -- We are on the way to eliminating noisy train whistles with the construction of the states first Quiet Zone" project and one of only a handful across the country," said OnTrac Chairperson Judy Dickinson.

Chairperson Judy Dickinson of Orange North-American Trade Rail Access Corridor (OnTrac) Joint Powers Authority (www.OnTrac-JPA.org) will pull the curtain on the beginning of a new dawn in two communities bothered by train whistles since the mandated use of train horns April 1, 2001 to reduce liability at railroad crossings and intersections.

On September 14, 2004, OnTrac announced a request for bids for the construction phase of the Quiet Zone Project. Getting the final construction phase of the Rail Crossing Safety/Quiet Zone Project out to bid was welcome news for the thousands of residents in Placentia and Anaheim who have been looking forward to the train whistle ban to improve their quality of life," said Dickinson.

Sealed bids for the Quiet Zone Project construction phase were opened on October 19, 2004 and a contract is expected to be awarded in November.

The work consists of improvements at and within eight (eight) BNSF railroad grade crossings in the City of Anaheim, City of Placentia, and the County of Orange. There will be extensive coordination with the construction by BNSF of new grade crossing warning signals and control systems as well as four quadrant" gate systems. Once these improvements are installed and subsequent Federal Railroad Administration studies are approved, the use of locomotive air whistles at the crossings will no longer be required, bringing much needed noise mitigation to the thousands of families who reside adjacent to the rail corridor as well as greatly enhanced safety for motorists and pedestrians.

OnTrac received the final approval of $3.4 million in federal funds by federal and state agencies for this project in August. The balance of the $7 million project is funded by local sources. Dickinson also praised the unusual cooperation and support this unique project has received from the many elected officials, regulating agencies, project partners and operating railroads; This is the first Quiet Zone project in the state and one of only a handful across the country. This is an exciting time," she said.    

Additionally, Dickinson praised significant efforts of Congressmen Gary Miller (42nd Dist.), Ed Royce (40th Dist.), Senators Dick Ackerman (33rd Dist.), Bob Margett (29th Dist.) and Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher (72nd Dist.) in making the Quiet Zone project funds available.

OnTrac is working with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Metrolink to design track safety improvements and rail crossing supplemental safety measures (SSMs) for all eight crossings. The goal is to create an environment that facilitates the expanding transcontinental rail trade, while maintaining local safety and quality of life.

The most difficult phases of this project are behind us now," said OnTrac Executive Director Chris Becker. Weve been looking forward to the start of construction and the improvement of rail crossing safety and restoration of quiet for our residents. This project will serve as a working demonstration lab for innovative rail crossing safety technologies that other communities will find useful."

The supplemental safety measures being designed for the rail crossings include raised and extended length concrete traffic medians, three-and four-quadrant rail crossing gates, traffic pre-signals as well as all new crossing warning flashers and signage. A three-phase video data collection study is underway following FRA guidelines used recently on similar whistle ban projects.

During phase one, existing conditions were studied for four months; the video cameras were activated each time a train entered four specified crossings and all activities of motorists, pedestrians and the trains were monitored until the trains cleared the crossing. During the second phase, the video will capture these activities following the installation of the supplemental safety measures, while train whistles are still in use. In the last phase, the video will record the crossing activity with the train whistles not used. The FRA, City and BNSF will review data reports compiled from the video taping to determine if sufficient improvement in driver behavior (fewer violations) is in place (due to the new safety measures), to warrant the implementation of the whistle ban.

The OnTrac leg of the Alameda Corridor East (Orangethorpe Corridor project) will grade separate 15 arterial streets from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad mainline, through five miles of Northern Orange County. It will protect public interests and enable expansion (in the next ten years) from the current 70 to the projected 135 trains daily, to and from the Alameda Corridor, as well as accommodate the anticipated increases from Metrolink and Amtrak passenger services. The project is widely supported at the local, regional, state and federal level and offers many transportation, quality of life and economic benefits to the region. The project is an integral component of one of Californias key Global Gateways", linking the San Pedro Bay Ports and the transcontinental mainline railroad.

Editors: For media interviews and digital photos please call George McQuade 818.340.5300 or 818.618.9229 visit ww.MayoCommunications.com. For more about OnTrac visit: www.OnTrac-JPA.org

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