(The following story by John R. Pulliam appeared on The Register-Mail website on August 5.)
GALESBURG, Ill. — Quiet zones continue to be a noisy topic here.
While quiet zones will not appear overnight, the Illinois Commerce Commission and the BNSF Railway are ready to offer the city money to close eight crossings. Engineers are required to sound train whistles a certain number of feet in advance of crossings used by motorists.
Information was given to the council Monday, but no vote was taken as to the closing of any crossings.
Judy Gorham, 409 N. Cherry St., addressed the Galesburg City Council about issues related to the growing number of trains. BNSF freights continue to be longer, while people who live near the tracks say louder decibel levels of train whistles make living near the tracks unpleasant.
Gorham said although the Mississippi River floods in Iowa and some areas of west-central Illinois were tragic, damage to BNSF tracks, which caused some rails here to sit idle until repairs were made in the flood zones, gave residents an earful of a possible peaceful future.
“It showed us how wonderful a quiet zone would be,” Gorham said. “The horns are being blown in excess these days, both in volume and frequency.”
Gorham asked city officials to keep the public informed of efforts to establish quiet zones.
Coincidentally, an update on the topic was scheduled to be given during the city manager’s report before it was known Gorham would be speaking about the subject.
“We plan on every three or four meetings giving updates,” Mayor Gary Smith said.
Public Works Director Larry Cox said a letter was sent May 15 to the Illinois Commerce Commission asking for $1.5 million toward the rough estimate of a $2.6 million price tag for signal circuitry upgrades necessary for quiet zones on the Chillicothe Subdivision tracks — the old Santa Fe tracks passing east to west through Galesburg.
Cox said the ICC replied on May 19 that “they do not have sufficient funding” for the grant. However, the agency offered the city $550,000 to close eight crossings. He said the BNSF is preparing a letter in which it also will offer help in closing the crossings. After the meeting, Cox said six crossings — West, Cherry, Kellogg, Pearl, Whitesboro and North streets — are on the Chillicothe Subdivision; two — Pearl Street and the crossing for yet-to-be-determined street at Mulberry and Chambers streets — are on the Mendota Subdivision.
If a proposed realignment of the Seminary Street overpass is approved, traffic would pass above two of those streets — Kellogg and North streets — on a bridge. Seminary Street, while not on the list of the eight crossings, would be closed north of North Street, effectively closing that crossing, as well. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Community Center.
Cox said an agreement is being prepared to have BNSF do the engineering work for the signal circuitry upgrades for quiet zone crossings. He said the engineering is expected to cost less than $100,000, with BNSF taking care of 10 percent of that.
He said results of the study should be back nine months after engineering is done.
“At that time, we’ll have an accurate estimate of the cost of the circuitry upgrades,” he said.
City Manager Dane Bragg said the city is exploring all avenues as it looks for money for the project.
“We have been pretty much in perpetual communication with our state and federal lawmakers,” Bragg said. He said funds from the federal government would be “earmarks,” money legislators bring back to their districts. Earmarks, which some critics term “pork,” have come under attack recently.
“It’s going to be difficult to get anything in the near term,” Bragg said of that route.
Smith said Congressman Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, has been “very responsive” about working to help Galesburg with quiet zone efforts. Gorham agreed. Smith said Hare might be willing to come to Galesburg to meet with a small group to hear its feelings and discuss what the government may be able to do.
The mayor asked that Cox’s update be posted on the city’s Web site.
Gorham said the railroad also needs to do a better job of maintaining its crossings, particularly in light of recent incidents in which residents in wheelchairs became caught on the tracks. She said more caution signs should be put near the rails and that School District 205 should be approached about an education program to teach students about the dangers of playing near busy railroad tracks.