Deafening silence: Railroad quiet zone begins

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Dave Simpson
  • 90th Civil Engineer Squadron
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  In the midst of year end, three component projects were funded to construct a quiet zone at the Old Glory Railroad crossing. 

Quiet zones are grade crossings, the intersection of a road and rail line, where trains are prohibited from sounding their horns. To create the Old Glory quiet zone, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is requiring crossing gates for the road and sidewalk, overhead warning lights and a crossover prevention median along the road's center line. 

The project includes three parts: installing new signal equipment, installing a new crossing surface and performing road improvements around the crossing. 

"The first two parts will be completed under contract by BNSF," said Ken Davis, 90th Civil Engineer Squadron. "The road improvements will be completed by our pavement maintenance contractor, Simon Contractors." 

Tom Lacy, 90th CES construction manager, said most aspects of the road will remain the same -- there will still be two lanes in each direction and the sidewalk will still be located on the west side of the road. 

One of the notable changes will be a two-foot wide, one-foot tall crossover prevention median installed in the center of the road, which will extend 120 feet on both the north and south side of the tracks, Mr. Lacy said. This median will prevent motorists from "driving around the gates" into the path of an oncoming train. 

The other significant change will be the reconstruction of the alley serving the garages of Sergeant's Row housing. This alley will become right out only, he said. In other words, people driving down the alley will only be able to turn right onto Old Glory Rd., and there will be no turning into the alley from Old Glory Rd. 

"The crossover prevention median will prevent access to south bound lanes, allowing right turns out of the alley only," Mr. Lacy said. "Right turns will not be allowed into the alley, since traffic backups could cause a vehicle to be on the tracks but beyond the warning gate." 

While the changes will inconvenience some motorists, they are necessary to allow the railway to disregard the federal regulation requiring trains to sound their horns at grade crossings. 

When construction is completed, this will be the first quiet zone in the Wyoming and one of only 311 quiet zone crossings in the United States, according to the FRA. 

"This is a great opportunity to increase safety for motorists and improve the quality of life for those who live and work around the crossing," said Jim Harker, 90th CES project engineer. 

For more information about the quiet zone construction, call 2nd Lt. Dave Simpson, 90th CES, at 773-3899, or visit http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/1318.