Santa Rosa on track to limit the sound of SMART train horns

Acting on noise complaints from residents and concerns raised by developers, the city of Santa Rosa is moving forward with a plan to dramatically limit the number of times commuter rail trains can sound horns within city limits.

City staff met Friday with representatives from local, state and federal transportation agencies to tour 14 rail crossings in the city being used by trains operated by the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Authority.

The tour is the first step in what could be a monthslong process to establish a so-called “quiet zone” in the city, prohibiting train horns at those crossings except in limited circumstances.

So far, Santa Rosa is the only Sonoma County city taking such steps to limit train noise.

A few City Council members on Friday expressed general support for reducing the noise, contingent upon SMART passenger service operating for a period of time to get people used to the train’s presence.

“I think we have to balance safety and livability,” Councilwoman Julie Combs said. “I’m in favor of train sounds for a while until people get accustomed to the fact we have trains.”

Councilman Gary Wysocky echoed that sentiment.

“We haven’t had train service here in a long time, so if we have train horns for the first six months and dial it back, that might make sense,” he said.

SMART is on track to debut passenger service in December. The 60-ton trains already are moving up and down the 43-mile rail line from north Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael nearly every day.

Once passenger service begins later this year, according to SMART’s draft schedule, trains will pass through public at-grade crossings 30 times a day on weekdays, and a dozen more times daily on weekends. At a minimum, that’s 174 horn blasts over a typical seven-day week, starting before dawn and ending after dark.

San Rafael and Novato are already far along in establishing quiet zones timed to coincide with the start of SMART passenger service.

Santa Rosa is fielding a growing number of complaints about the horns from residents, in particular from those living near the San Miguel Avenue crossing in the city’s northwest quadrant.

Gary Smith, who lives on Randon Way near the tracks, said the sound of the horns is “making it very uncomfortable to live in my home.”

Smith, who moved into his home in 2003, said a person who stopped at his door seeking his support for Measure Q - the 2008 sales tax measure that provides the bulk of funding for SMART - assured him the trains would be “quiet.” Smith said he nevertheless voted against the measure, thinking it a waste of taxpayer money.

Developers of proposed housing in the city’s downtown area also are raising concerns about the impact of the noise on their projects. They include the developer of Pullman Lofts, a 72-unit apartment complex proposed to be built at the corner of 8th and Wilson streets, adjacent to a rail crossing and a few blocks north of the Railroad Square station.

Loren Brueggemann, president of Phoenix Development, said Friday the project, which has been in the works since 2013, is on schedule to break ground in the fall. But he suggested those plans might fall apart if the city doesn’t take steps to limit the sound of the train horns.

“I’m not going to build a project and have it fail,” he said.

Brueggemann said there are no suitable mitigation measures he could take to reduce the impact of the noise on tenants, given the development’s proximity to the rail line.

“I suppose you could build a sound wall 30-feet high, and then you’d be like living in a prison,” he said.

Brueggemann said he brought his concerns to city officials in December. He said he didn’t speak up earlier in the development process because he didn’t realize until then the full impact of the noise. Transit agencies in cities such as Denver where he’s developed similar projects don’t employ horns to the degree SMART does, he said.

“Shame on me for not asking the question three years ago when I started on this journey,” he said.

David Guhin, director of the city’s Planning and Economic Development department, called the horns a “real issue,” saying he heard for himself how loud they are while riding a SMART train through the city.

Guhin noted that the city and SMART went to the time and expense of making upgrades to crossings to make them eligible for quiet zone designation.

“Absolutely I would be in favor of going down that path, because we could show our residents and developers we support quality of life and the quality of development in transit-oriented development areas,” he said.

Federal regulations require train engineers to sound horns at least 15 seconds in advance of all public rail crossings, as well as when entering and departing stations. The volume must be between 96 and 110 decibels, which at the upper register is equivalent to the sound of a chainsaw.

However, under federal law, communities can establish quiet zones prohibiting the use of train horns except in limited circumstances, including when a vehicle, person or animal is on the track or when crossing gates are not functioning.

Friday’s tour was to determine whether the safety upgrades made to the city’s 14 rail crossings, including installing curb medians and other measures to deter people from going around lowered gates, are sufficient to meet quiet zone criteria.

Jason Nutt, the city’s director of transportation and public works, said there’s still minor work left to do on some of those crossings. The city is expecting to receive approval from the California Public Utilities Commission next week to build another rail crossing at Jennings Avenue, Nutt said.

He said a proposal for establishing a quiet zone in Santa Rosa will be presented to the City Council in September or early October. The CPUC and Federal Railroad Administration would have to determine the crossings meet the requirements for quiet zones before the city could move forward with the plan.

Nutt said the process would include a period of time for the public to weigh in on the proposal.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.