Village residents work to revise railroad quiet zone
By Elizabeth Wood West
Several months have passed since Sedalia and Castle Pines Village residents weighed in on whether to financially support a railroad quiet zone along Santa Fe Drive. The results from a telephone survey conducted by Douglas County indicated that although the train horn noise was disruptive and annoying, most affected residents were unwilling to pay for the mitigation measures required to create a quiet zone.
County engineering staff member Sean Owens has continued working with the Castle Pines Homes Association board and Village resident Don Somsky on ways to mitigate the train horn noise.
A plan has been drafted that will convert two of the ten private crossings on Santa Fe Drive into public crossings, and then reconfigure them into quiet zones. The two crossings are located south of Castle Pines Village and north of the crossing at Sedalia. Train horn noise would essentially be eliminated along this stretch of Santa Fe Drive.
Owens said, “We are waiting on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to make a decision on whether we can do a quiet zone with only private crossings, or if we have to make the crossing on each end public. This will be very important to the cost. If they decide to let us do the quiet zone with all private crossings, then it will cost about a quarter to a third of a quiet zone with the two crossings converted to public.”
Owens said that they are on hold until they hear from the FRA, but that they are hoping for a favorable decision. “[A favorable decision] would make it much easier to raise the funds for the quiet zone,” said Owens. The original quiet zone cost was estimated to be almost $3 million.
Somsky remains committed to the cause. “There are a lot of unhappy people in the Village. I talked to two of them last week; they had just moved in and they are pretty mad about the horns,” he said. “We will get this done – we have no choice.”
The FRA is expected to announce its decision soon. For more information visit www.douglas.co.us “Hot Topics,” and click on “Railroad Crossing – Quiet Zone Study,” or call Douglas County engineering at 303-660-7490.
To read about the history of this issue or to review previous articles written on the subject, go to www.castlepinesconnection.com.
