Tomball hears multimodal consultant: quiet zones possible but costly, multi-year

At a special meeting Oct. 6, the Tomball City Council heard from Frank Quinavides, a multimodal engineer with the Ardura Group, about the federal process for establishing railroad quiet zones and the tradeoffs between community noise reduction and public safety.

Quinavides told the council that quiet zones are established under a Federal Railroad Administration regulatory process (49 CFR part 222) and that the process requires a formal diagnostic review with stakeholders, design and construction of supplemental safety measures, and a notice-of-establishment filing. "What are quiet zones? So so quiet zones are they're designated sections of of a rail line where train horns are not routinely sounded," Quinavides said.

Quinavides and city staff described six general steps: identify candidate crossings and an appropriate half-mile segment, conduct a diagnostic assessment involving police, fire, TxDOT, FRA and rail operators, submit a notice of intent to the FRA with a 60-day comment period, design and implement supplemental or alternative safety measures, and submit a notice of establishment after construction for FRA review. Quinavides estimated diagnostic review could take 6 to 12 months, design approvals 1 to 2 years, construction up to 2 to 3 years, and FRA review 6 to 12 months, which he summarized as roughly a five-year process in many cases.

On costs, Quinavides said measures vary by crossing and by what the FRA will accept as supplemental safety measures (examples: median islands, four-quadrant gates, closing crossings). He said costs could vary widely depending on the work required and that a worst-case scenario might approach $2,000,000 per crossing for full four-quadrant gates and associated design and permitting.

City staff noted jurisdictional complexity. Staff said Tomball controls three crossings; other crossings are controlled by Harris County or TxDOT and would require coordination. Staff also relayed BNSF comments that Tomball sees an average of about three BNSF trains per day.

Council members and staff repeatedly flagged safety as the primary concern. Quinavides and staff emphasized that establishing a quiet zone does not prohibit train crews from sounding horns for safety reasons. "They do not have to adhere to it. At any point in time, they feel like they need to sound the horn. They can sound the horn," staff said.

After discussion about costs, responsibility for county-owned crossings, potential liability and roadway geometry at approach ramps, the council reached a consensus not to proceed at this time. The mayor summarized: "The consensus is we're probably not gonna go forward on this, but we are we'd like the launching pads fixed, you know, that are going over the railroad tracks." Council asked staff to continue targeted safety improvements to crossing approaches and to bring any specific funding options or grant opportunities back to council before starting a quiet-zone NOI process.

Actions taken were informal: council directed staff to put the quiet-zone effort on hold and continue coordination with BNSF and Harris County to address crossing approaches and safety items; there was no formal vote.