Martin County commissioners vote against creating railroad quiet zones after safety debate

Martin County commissioners voted unanimously March 11 to decline establishing railroad quiet zones along the Florida East Coast (FEC) rail corridor after a lengthy staff presentation, technical testimony and public comment.

The board’s decision came after Assistant County Engineer Matt Hammond and railroad safety expert George Cabala reviewed federal rules and local crossing data and recommended the county weigh safety, legal exposure and interagency coordination before pursuing any quiet-zone application. Hammond said the county had paused a year after Brightline began commercial operations to assess the corridor and the safety implications.

“Quiet zones are a partnership between the public authority and the Federal Railroad Administration,” Hammond told the board, describing the FRA’s methodology for measuring a corridor’s risk and the two routes to qualify: self-designation when very specific supplemental safety measures are already installed, or a full Federal Railroad Administration application for alternative safety measures.

Cabala, who worked in the FRA’s safety office during formation of the current quiet-zone rules, reviewed historical data and cautioned commissioners about safety tradeoffs. He said the FRA found accident rates rose after ad hoc quiet zones were created in the 1980s and that the current regulations require measurable safety offsets such as four-quadrant gates or median treatments.

Public commenters urged both sides. Doug Farley, a former fire-service member, asked the board to adopt quiet zones, saying, “Horns are ineffective” and arguing four-quadrant gates provide better visual cues for drivers and emergency crews. Other residents and some commissioners warned that faster trains, limited visual cues and an uptick in incidents since Brightline began service argue for caution.

Deputy County Attorney Elise Elder told the board quiet zones reduce some federal preemption defenses but do not eliminate legal risk, noting a jurisdiction could face liability if local safety measures malfunction and contribute to an incident.

County staff presented counts and impacts: roughly 12,000 residential properties (about 25,000 residents) lie within a half-mile of the corridor where horns are sounded, and about 27,000 properties (roughly 60,000 residents) are within a mile. Staff highlighted crossings with the highest risk-index scores, including Jensen Beach Boulevard, Colorado Avenue, downtown Stuart crossings and Monterey Road.

Commissioners debated options including a countywide 24-hour quiet zone, a nighttime-only quiet zone (10 p.m.–7 a.m.), and narrower pilot zones (for example, two Jensen Beach crossings or five crossings in the Hobe Sound corridor). Hammond said several local crossings already had upgrades required by the Brightline settlement; for others, staff’s informal FRA and FDOT discussions identified mostly signage and pavement-marking updates as near-term work to meet federal standards.

After discussion, Commissioner Capps moved that the county not adopt quiet zones; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

The board directed staff to continue implementing targeted crossing-safety improvements being studied by public works and to coordinate with adjacent jurisdictions on any future corridor-wide proposals.

Commissioners also discussed funding possibilities and timing; staff said quiet-zone implementation costs vary widely and that federal grants typically are not available specifically for quiet-zone measures, although other federal safety grant programs may sometimes be used for grade-crossing safety work.

The county’s immediate next steps are to pursue recommended crossing upgrades (signage, pavement markings and fencing) and to pursue interlocal coordination with neighboring jurisdictions if the board revisits a quiet-zone application later.