By the end of the year, Colleyville residents will no longer hear the train horn blaring as the train approaches the city's three railroad crossings at John McCain, Pleasant Run and Bransford roads.

After years of preparation and planning and months of construction, Colleyville will have a quiet zone along the Cotton Belt Rail Line. Construction for the $1.81 million project began in August with the installation of safety features that eliminates the need for train conductors to sound their horn before approaching the crossings.

While construction is expected to be complete by the end of October, Bob Lowry, director of public works for Colleyville, said the quiet zone will not immediately go into effect because of federal guidelines.

"Once it is complete we then have to send a notice to the Federal Railway Administration so that they can send out a notice to all of the railroad companies," he said. "Thirty days later, it will go in effect."

Funding the project

Installing safety features for a railroad quiet zone can be costly without the help of state or federal funding.

Mona Gandy, communications and marketing manager for Colleyville, said the project would have cost the city $1.7 million without a federal grant.

However, the city applied for a federal grant in 2008, which was approved in 2010. In 2012 CTC Inc. of Fort Worth was hired to do design work. Fort Worth & Western Railroad did railroad work and road/trail work was completed by SJ&J Construction.

The federal government, through the Texas Department of Transportation, is paying $1,436,000; the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, otherwise known as The T, is funding the local match of the project at $359,000.

Councilman Chris Putnam voted against the quiet zone because he is openly opposed to the advancement of the Tex Rail, a 27-mile commuter rail project being developed by The T. The project will be the next passenger rail service coming to Tarrant County and it is expected to be complete in 2018.

"I won't vote to spend a penny on anything that endorses, enables or accelerates Tex Rail. These so-called quiet zones were funded in part by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority. As far as I'm concerned it is blood money Colleyville accepted to not oppose Tex Rail and buy the city's silence and tacit support."

Joan Hunter, communication manager for The T, said it is very typical for The T to pay the local match for quiet zones.

"The city of Colleyville initiated the deal," she said. "They asked us to help manage the project and make sure the installation is done properly and safely."

With the majority of the project funded, Colleyville City Council approved $18,863 to pay for pedestrian enhancements surrounding the three railroad crossings, which include connecting sections of the Webb House Trail and the Cotton Belt Trail and Pleasant Run Trail to the Cotton Belt Trail. The enhancements will also include safety gates on each side of the tracks that will not allow pedestrians to cross the tracks while a train is passing.

"If the city was to do the enhancements separately it would have cost around $150,000 to $180,000," Gandy said. "These enhancements are well worth it, as trails are very popular in Colleyville."

Safety and noise improvements

Lowry said while there have not been a lot of complaints throughout the years about railroad noise from residents, the city thought it was best to install the quiet zones now in preparation for the future.

"Quiet zones have become a big deal in the last 10 to 15 years in the nation," he said. "More and more cities are being built around railroads, and they make a lot of noise."

Lowry said the quiet zones not only eliminate noise from the trains but also add safety measures to each crossing that significantly reduce the chances of collisions.

"These physical improvements are designed so that people can not get around them," he said. "That's extremely important since there will no longer be a horn to warn motorists and pedestrians that a train is approaching."

At the John McCain Road crossing, a raised median has been installed on each side of the crossing accompanied with barrier arms.

The Bransford and Pleasant Run crossings have four-quadrant gates installed.

These gates feature four barrier arms, two on each side of the road. The arms will lower to prevent traffic from proceeding, and if the system detects a car on the tracks it will keep an arm raised to allow the vehicle to exit the crossing without damaging the arms.