Railway to respond soon on quiet zone

EDMOND — Restless nights might eventually come to an end as BNSF Railway plans to respond to the city in less than 60 days about moving forward on a quiet zone.

Plans for creating a quiet zone have been discussed for years, as the city and BNSF discuss costs and which intersections would need to be upgraded to comply with federal regulations.

“It is coming,” said Joe Sloan, director of BNSF Public Affairs for Oklahoma.

Over the last year, BNSF has been working on determining cost estimates and has sent the proposal to the Federal Railroad Administration.

It now is awaiting a response, Sloan said.

However, city officials claim staff changes at BNSF have slowed the project down and complicated things.

Once BNSF engineers receive the green light from the Federal Railroad Administration, they plan on contacting the city on moving forward with the quiet zone.

This could occur within 30 to 60 days.

BNSF cannot declare a quiet zone.

Only the Federal Railroad Administration can, Sloan said.

It could take up to two years to complete the project once BNSF gives the city a final construction cost estimate.

Once the city receives the proposal, Edmond Traffic Engineer Tom Minnick and other city officials would begin looking over the plans and bring it before the city council.

Project costs would be between $3.4 million and $5.1 million, depending on the type of systems the city plans on putting at each crossing, according to the latest estimates from CTC Inc., a railroad signaling company.

Funding for the project would come out of the city’s capital improvement sales tax.

A city council workshop was held in April to discuss the changes.

Multiple developers are hoping the project begins as quickly as possible, with several developments being stalled until the go-ahead is given on construction.