by Elizabeth Wood West

“I will do everything possible to stop this ridiculous noise,” declared Castle Pines Village resident and petition organizer Don Somsky. Last fall, Somsky and other Village residents worked with the Castle Pines Homes Association (CPHA) to circulate a petition for residents and businesses that are impacted by train whistle noise. The noise is from Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) train engines sounding their horns at eight private at-grade railroad crossings located from Castle Rock to Sedalia along Santa Fe Drive in Douglas County.

Petitions Delivered

In February, Somsky hand-delivered copies of the petition to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners and to U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall. Somsky estimates that the petition had nearly 1,300 signatures. He said that both Bennet’s and Udall’s staff told him that they would forward the petitions to the appropriate federal agencies. Meanwhile, Commissioner Steve Boand met with CPHA’s board of directors to discuss Douglas County’s role in how to address the train whistle noise.

Douglas County looks at Quiet Zone Option

Douglas County engineering staff has identified a possible mitigation measure – establishing an official quiet zone. According to Fred Koch, engineering division director, “The establishment of the quiet zone must follow federal guidelines, which will require that there be at least one public crossing within the zone; the public crossing, as well as any private crossings, must be brought up to the latest safety standards.”

Koch added “A diagnostic team is created, including representatives from Douglas County, the Colorado Department of Transportation, UPRR, and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), to collaborate on these solutions. UPRR charges $10,000 per crossing for this design work related to the installation of crossing protection devices. Estimates of the above undertaking are in the $500,000 range,” he stated.

Koch further added, “For this section of the railway, there is a possibility of combining some of the private crossings to reduce the total number of crossings that would have to be improved. The creation of a short frontage road on the west side of the easterly tracks would be one way of combining accesses. A similar process would be to obtain access easements and build an alternate private driveway to a common railroad crossing to reduce the number of crossings. No decision has been made at this time.”

Funding for Options

The process of working toward establishing a quiet zone will be lengthy and costly. Does the County have funds available for this? “There is no provision within the 2010 Douglas County budget for noise mitigation designated for [railroad] quiet zones within Douglas County,” Koch explained. “In addition, the solution is uncertain, as preliminary engineering would need to be performed, which would include cost estimates required to determine the budget for establishment of a quiet zone. UPRR requires fees and an engineered proposal for each crossing within a designated quiet zone,” he stated.

“The cost for preparation of engineering and fees is approximately $60,000. Douglas County would entertain cost-sharing of this undertaking with the Castle Pines Village community. Funding of the physical improvements required for the quiet zone is dubious at this time. The establishment of a public improvement district may be an equitable mechanism to secure funding from impacted/benefiting parties,” said Koch.

For technical questions, please contact Douglas County Engineering at 303-660-7490 or engineering@douglas.co.us. For policy questions, please contact the county manager at 303-660-7401. Visit their offices at 100 Third Street in Castle Rock.