Railroad quiet zone a reality for 2012
By Elizabeth Wood West
More than two years have passed since Castle Pines Village residents organized a petition drive and began working with Douglas County officials in an effort to eliminate, or at least mitigate, train whistle noise along the Santa Fe Drive corridor.
Douglas County responded to residents’ concerns and initiated the lengthy and complicated process of establishing a railroad quiet zone. The process has required the cooperation and coordination between Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Union Pacific (UP) Railroads, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC). After many long months of working and waiting, the issue may be resolved by the end of this year.
County engineering staff member and project manager, Sean Owens, PE, has been working on the quiet zone since the beginning. Owens said his team (Douglas County staff and engineering consultant Felsburg Holt & Ullevig) recently received a letter of interpretation from the FRA indicating that the intended limits of the proposed railroad quiet zone are acceptable. Because the railroad track changes ownership between UP and BNSF approximately one-half mile south of Sedalia, Owens and his team had requested confirmation from the FRA that this did not pose a problem for establishing the quiet zone.
Owens explained, “With the FRA letter received, the team now will coordinate with the railroads for right of entry to [perform surveys at each of the crossings within the proposed quiet zone.] Following the surveys, preliminary plans will be developed for submittal to the railroads for review and comment. Once the plans have been reviewed and the crossing treatments are acceptable to all parties, the County can submit its Notice of Intent to Create a Quiet Zone to the FRA. We are now working with the PUC to get the quiet zone approved. Plans will then be progressed and cost estimates developed, both of which are included in an application to the PUC, requesting authority to construct improvements at the crossings,” he said.
After the PUC ruling and development of agreements with BNSF and UP Railroads, construction of improvements to the railroad crossings should be completed this summer. “Official Quiet Zone establishment can be anticipated in late 2012 or early 2013,” said Owens.
For further information, please contact Sean Owens at 303-660-7490. To read our other stories about the railroad quiet zone, visit www.castlepinesconnection.com, click on the Search tab, and type in “railroad quiet zone.”
