Peace, quiet for at least part of Bartlett

Starting today, train engineers must now put the kibosh on their horns as they travel through the west side of Bartlett.

A quiet zone will go into effect at 12:01 p.m. along the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern railroad tracks.

Bartlett has been working for two years to hush the freight train horns, which have always sounded at West Bartlett and Stearns roads.

The new quiet zone extends from West Bartlett Road north to Main Street in Barrington. The stretch of train tracks was eligible because safety features including gates and raised medians were already in place at the crossings.

The Bartlett residents most likely to sleep better live in the Castle Creek, Amber Grove, Spring Lake Estates subdivisions and parts of Westridge and Lakewood Mill.

Bartlett has also been working -- for more than 10 years now -- to implement a quiet zone along the Metra tracks.

The project was approved in the fall, pending improvements to the Naperville Road crossing. Village Administrator Valerie Salmons said she hopes it will go into effect this summer.

Despite the new silence, all is not well concerning Bartlett and its railways.

Village officials have joined the fight against the Canadian National Railway Corp.'s proposed $300 million purchase of the EJ&E railroad.

Bartlett is one of many towns to voice its opposition to the sale, which would shift a significant amount of train traffic from Chicago to area suburbs.

In Bartlett alone, Canadian National estimates the average number of trains using the EJ&E tracks through town would jump from 5.5 to 23.5 trains per day.

Any acquisition is still months off. In the meantime, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board continues to hold well-attended informational meetings.