(The following story by Kathy Cichon appeared on the Beacon-News website November 26, 2008)
CHICAGO, Il – A stretch of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway corridor is about to become a little less noisy.
Starting Monday, trains traveling along the EJ&E will be required to comply with a new Quiet Zone restriction from 111th Street in Naperville, through Aurora’s far East Side, and up to Batavia Road in Warrenville.
“It won’t completely eliminate them, but it will significantly reduce it,” said Andy Hynes, project engineer with the city of Naperville.
Locomotive engineers will still be able to sound the train’s horn if they deem it necessary for safety purposes, he said.
For two years, the quiet zone designation has been in the works through the efforts of Aurora, Naperville and Warrenville, along with the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference.
The zone is based on the Federal Railroad Administration’s guidelines.
With more residential areas located along the corridor than there used to be, both Naperville and Aurora residents began requesting fewer train horns in the area, Hynes said.
In order for the designation to be granted, certain safety measures had to be in place, Hynes said.
Two crossings — Montgomery Road and Keating Drive, both in Aurora — needed to have constant warning time signals installed.
Completed in mid-October, the signals activate the bells and gates no matter what speed the train is traveling.
The designation of the quiet zone is not related to the proposed purchase of the EJ&E by Canadian National Railway, officials added.
“We started on this well before that was ever discussed,” Hynes said. “It is completely unrelated to that.”
Two pedestrian crossings along the Illinois Prairie Path near Diehl Road will probably continue to hear the sound of train horns.
“It is likely the trains will still blow their horns when they approach those Prairie Path crossings,” Hynes said.
“It is up to the discretion of the train engineer.”
The two crossings, which are under DuPage County jurisdiction, are slated for bells and gates in the future, Hynes said.