Village may be train horn-free by year's end

Lake Zurich residents may not have to deal with noisy train horns for much longer.

After trying for two years, the village is now a step closer to establishing a quiet zone along the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad tracks, and officials say Lake Zurich could be horn-free by year end.

Since completion of the Route 22 bypass through town, four of five train crossings in residential and commercial areas within or near village boundaries have been improved to meet the safety criteria for a quiet zone. Officials are waiting for crossing arms and lights to be installed at a fifth crossing at Oakwood Road in the industrial park.

"We're glad it's finally coming to a close," said Village Administrator John Dixon. "Once this is completed, we will have had all the intersections in town qualify to meet the quiet zone. We'll be able to fit in this whole system."

The village is among more than a dozen Northwest suburban towns that have sought to establish a quiet corridor from Bartlett to North Chicago along the EJ&E tracks. A 9-mile stretch of the EJ&E tracks from Mettawa through Vernon Hills already is quiet.

Elsewhere, the Canadian National Railroad through Lake County recently was declared a quiet zone corridor.

To qualify for a quiet zone, train crossings must have safety features such as gates, a raised median to prevent cars from cutting around the gates and, in some cases, pedestrian arms.

Options include building an underpass or overpass for crossings, or eliminating train horns by placing automated horns at the crossing similar to what Mundelein Libertyville and Vernon Hills installed at nine Canadian National crossings in 2002 to reduce noise.

Though Lake Zurich hasn't received many complaints from residents about train horns, the noise does travel, officials say.

Lake Zurich Trustee Steve Callahan said his Braemar subdivision gets hit twice because it is situated in between two crossings.

"It will be a real positive improvement on the quality of life for Lake Zurich residents," Callahan said. "It will give them longer hours to sleep, or at least more sound sleep, especially in the summer."

The EJ&E is not a passenger rail line. Recently, there has been an increase in freight traffic at all hours.

"With the Canadian National Railroad buying EJ&E, the rumor is there may be more trains coming through on this line," Dixon said. "So we'll get it done before additional trains start running."

The Oakwood Road crossing signals would have been installed months earlier, but work was delayed due to proximity to overhead power lines, Dixon said.