Reduced train horn noise in Elburn's future

Things should get quieter in Elburn by the end of the year.

The Elburn village board this week approved a contract for installing a wayside automated horn system to warn drivers on Route 47 and on First Street about trains passing through on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. It hired Railroad Controls Ltd. for $124,125.

The system features stationary horns on poles at the intersections that direct the sound toward the traffic. This way, the train engineers can stop their practice of blowing train horns up to a quarter-mile before the intersections, disturbing Elburn's peace particularly at night.

"Far, far fewer people are affected by the (wayside) horns," village administrator David Morrison said. An 80-decibel regular train horn can be heard in the surrounding 171 acres, according to Railroad Controls. The automated horn affects five acres.

Train engineers will still be allowed to blow horns if they see something on the tracks, somebody walking near the tracks, in bad weather or if there is an indicator light that the automated system is not working.

Wiring diagrams for the system must be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Construction is expected to be accomplished this year, Morrison said.

A 2001 study of the system after it was installed in Mundelein showed a reduction of noise of up to 85 percent for neighborhoods near the crossings. And 85 percent of residents responding to a survey after they were installed said the automated horn sound was much less annoying than when the trains blew their horns.

Overall, the village expects to spend nearly $300,000 on the horns, including engineering work and legal fees. Blackberry Township is chipping in $10,000.

Train horn noise increased substantially in the village in the last 10 years as federal rules changed and required trains to sound their horns near crossings.