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City staff recommend permanently closing 200 South to create a railroad quiet zone
Summary
Salt Lake City transportation staff proposed closing 200 South between Montgomery Street and roughly 1640 West to establish a railroad quiet zone. Staff said vehicular counts are low, safety and sight‑line problems make a compliant crossing costly, and the closure would retain public ownership while preventing through traffic to reduce horn use in adjacent neighborhoods.
Lynn Jacobs, the city’s transportation director, told the council the closure of 200 South between Montgomery Street and roughly 1640 West is intended to support a new railroad quiet zone and to address safety problems at a skewed crossing. "We counted less than 500 cars a day using this road," Jacobs said, arguing the corridor is low‑volume and that closing the crossing — while keeping the right of way public — would cut horn noise for nearby homes and mitigate hazardous sight lines.
City staff described a design that would remove asphalt at the crossing, install curb and gutter on the east side, and erect chain‑link fencing to block pedestrian crossings. They said the proposal retains adjacent property access via private locks and preserves the roadway as public right‑of‑way for utilities and emergency use. Mark Stevens, city engineer, added that the plan includes a cul‑de‑sac turnaround to allow larger vehicles, including fire apparatus, to turn safely.
The transportation division said upgrading the crossing to meet Federal Rail Administration (FRA) quiet‑zone requirements would require substantial work because the crossing is skewed and Patriot Rail's line sits several feet below Union Pacific's tracks in the same corridor. Jacobs said one design option that would have kept the road open and brought the crossing to full compliance would add roughly $1.5 million in infrastructure costs; raising the Patriot Rail alignment to remove the elevation difference would rise into "tens of millions of dollars," staff said. Jacobs characterized the closure as the most cost‑effective way to achieve the quiet‑zone objective.
Council members raised concerns about public engagement and neighborhood connectivity. One councilmember said, "If we don't tell neighbors before this happens, I'm going to get a couple hundred phone calls and emails," and urged staff to do canvassing and signage beyond the minimum state notices. Staff committed to a four‑week notice and canvassing process, and said they have already coordinated with UDOT and obtained letters of support from affected property owners and utilities.
Staff also noted the closure solves both a quality‑of‑life concern (train horns at night) and a safety concern (poor sight lines at the skewed crossing). They said the closure would be an "indefinite closure" under state statute rather than a vacation, meaning the city retains ownership of the right of way while restricting through access. No formal council vote was taken at the work session; staff will publish detailed designs and run the required public notice and comment period before the council considers an ordinance for adoption.
