'Quiet Zone' taking effect in Wood Dale

Wood Dale residents soon will have one less thing keeping them up at night: the sound of train horns.

The city has received official approval for the establishment of a Quiet Zone through the Federal Railroad Administration, which will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 20.

A quiet zone is a section of a rail line at least a half-mile in length that contains one or more consecutive public highway‐rail grade crossings at which locomotive horns are not routinely sounded when trains are approaching.

The lengthy process for establishing the Quiet Zone began in 2013 at the direction of city council during the development of its strategic plan. City staff members worked with DuPage County, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Metra, CP Rail, the Illinois Commerce Commission and ultimately received final approval from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Public works crews have completed installation of "No Train Horn" signs at each of the crossings throughout the city to alert motorists about the Quiet Zone. The signs have been temporarily covered until the zone goes into effect July 20.

In order to create the Quiet Zone, additional safety measures were put in place to reduce risk. However, it is still important for motorists to stay cautious.

"We want everyone to stay safe. You should still be alert and look both ways before crossing the tracks," police Chief Greg Vesta said.

Vesta said the Quiet Zone will not completely eliminate all train horns.

"The engineers ultimately have a responsibility to use the horns at their discretion if any safety issues present themselves," he said. "If they feel there is a vehicle, person or obstruction too close to the tracks, they will use the horns to signal the train's approach."

The Quiet Zone will affect crossings in Wood Dale at both Ash Street and the recently redeveloped intersection of Wood Dale and Irving Park roads, which provides a state-of-the-art enhanced capability traffic signaling system that delivers a clearance protocol in all directions for incoming trains - the first of its kind in the state.

Thanks to nearly $600,000 in grant funding, the city also was able to work with IDOT and Metra to complete upgrades to the Constant Warning Time devices at the Ash Street crossing and dwarf pedestrian crossing signals at the train station.