Northern Colorado city looks to silence train horns through populated areas

A city in Northern Colorado wants to eliminate nearly all train horn sounds within its eastern city limits in an effort to support current and future residents and businesses. 

For people living and working along the eastern edge of Greeley, the sound of trains is a familiar part of everyday life. Train after train rolls through the city, traveling north and south, sometimes dozens of times a day. Each time, the train has its horns blaring as it approaches many crossings.

Roberto Belmont works at a tire shop just feet from the tracks and said the noise is difficult to escape.

"It's nonstop," Belmont said.

He estimates trains pass by every 10 to 15 minutes, with as many as 20 to 25 trains traveling through in a day. He said trains will honk horns as early as 7 a.m. and as late as midnight  

"The sound is pretty deafening sometimes," Belmont said.

Now, the City of Greeley is working on a plan that could eventually mean fewer train horns across the city.

"Greeley is one of the cities that made the West, and so the railroad is part and parcel with that," said Seth Sorensen, public works director for Greeley.

The city can't eliminate the sound of train cars moving along the tracks, but it can work to reduce the need for horns.

"The horn is very loud on purpose," Sorensen explained.

Train horns are intended to promote safety at railroad crossings. Cities can apply for a quiet zone if they make safety improvements at crossings, including upgrades such as crossing gates, medians, curbs and gutters.

Greeley is working toward making those improvements while also focusing on the safety of people who drive, walk and commute near the railroad tracks.

Belmont said people sometimes use the railroad corridor to get around the area.

"Actually, a lot of people use these railroad tracks as kind of little crossway segments or walk right along," Belmont said.

The proposed quiet zone could eventually run the entire north-south length of Greeley's eastern city limits.

For now, the city's focus is on upgrades at 13th Street and 8th Street. Greeley officials say improvements at a single intersection could cost up to $2 million.

The investment comes as Greeley continues to look toward future growth on the city's eastern side.

If the city completes the necessary upgrades and receives approval for the quiet zone, officials say reducing train horn noise could make the area more attractive for residents and businesses.

"Making it easier for residents and businesses to be located down there without the distractions of the noise and the horns can only help in those efforts," Sorensen said.

The city says completing the improvements is an important investment for people who live and work near the tracks today, as well as future residents as Greeley continues to grow.

If the city secures a quiet zone, conductors would still be permitted to use their horns when they deem necessary.