Officials press forward on dialing down the noise of SMART horns in Sonoma and Marin counties

Momentum is gathering for turning down the noise on train horns throughout Sonoma and Marin counties, where testing for passenger rail service set to begin next year already is driving many bonkers.

That includes 94-year-old Richard Kiehne, who lives with his wife in a Rohnert Park mobile home park sandwiched between two major rail crossings.

Kiehne described the sound of the horns on trains operated by the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit Authority as “loud,” “long,” “obnoxious” and a “pest.”

“I understand there is going to be some horn, but you can hear the darn things as far away as the (Sonoma State) university!” the retired chemist said.

Kiehne was pleased to learn Rohnert Park officials have jumped onboard with efforts to create so-called quiet zones governing horns on SMART trains.

Under the latest plan, Sonoma County would take the lead on establishing such zones at 14 public crossings - including three in Rohnert Park - from Aviation Boulevard north of Santa Rosa, to Ely Road north of Petaluma.

Crossings at Rohnert Park Expressway and Southwest Boulevard would be included. Valley Village Mobile Home Park, where the Kiehnes have lived for more than a decade, is between those two locations.

Several of the park’s residents submitted letters to the city pleading for officials to do something about the sound. One woman wrote that she and her neighbors are “assaulted hourly by the horrid horns,” and she demanded the city do something to stop, or at least lessen the noise.

“There’s clearly people who are unhappy with the current level of horn activation, however you want to describe it,” said Jake Mackenzie, Rohnert Park’s incoming mayor and a SMART director.

The county’s push to create quiet zones, combined with similar efforts in the cities of Santa Rosa, Petaluma and possibly Cotati, could lead to the establishment of one long quiet zone for most of Sonoma County, where passenger trains initially are planned to operate.

“I think that would be the goal,” said Johannes Hoevertsz, deputy director of the county’s Transportation and Public Works agency.

San Rafael and Novato have teamed up to create quiet zones for all crossings in Marin County.

SMART’s passenger service, which had been scheduled to start this month, has been pushed back to late spring 2017 due in part to problems with engines on the new trains and challenges getting warning signals at crossings to function properly.

But already the trains are a familiar sight and sound along the initial 43-mile segment running from north Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael.

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.

To qualify for quiet zone designation, supplemental safety measures must be in place at the crossings where the horns would no longer routinely sound.

The enhanced safeguards include four-quadrant gate systems, which provide full closure of the crossing as trains pass through, and curb medians to discourage motorists from attempting to drive around lowered gates.

Santa Rosa and Petaluma have applied for quiet zone designations for every public crossing. The applications to the Federal Railroad Administration are followed by a 60-day comment period and a 21-day notice before the zone can take effect.

Sonoma County supervisors are likely to approve a similar application for 14 crossings in unincorporated areas and in Rohnert Park at their Dec. 13 meeting, according to Hoevertsz.

The Cotati City Council next week also will consider whether to seek a quiet zone for the East Cotati Avenue crossing, either independently or as part of the county’s application, City Manager Damien O’Bid said.

Ashley Thomas, a nursing student whose home is within sight of the Southwest Boulevard crossing in Rohnert Park, said she supports dampening the noise.

“It is impossible to hear anything else in the house when they’re driving by,” she said of the trains. “It’s just the sound of the horns.”

But hurdles remain for advocates of quiet zones, including where the money will come from to pay for upgrades to crossings.

The county estimates it will cost about $500,000 for the work. City officials in Rohnert Park put the tab at $300,000 for upgrades there.

Farhad Mansourian, SMART’s general manager, stated in a memorandum to SMART directors that the rail agency will cover the cost of curb medians or up to $50,000 per crossing to make them quiet-zone eligible. SMART directors are scheduled to take up the issue at their meeting Wednesday in Petaluma.

Sonoma County Supervisor and SMART Director David Rabbitt said the county might have to dip into the county’s general fund or transportation accounts to help cover the cost for quiet zones.

The expenditures would come on top of county supervisors recently approving a $506,000 contract for signal work at crossings at Main Street in Penngrove and Fulton Road north of Santa Rosa designed to prevent traffic from backing up onto the tracks.

Officials said the Fulton Road rail crossing presents additional challenges meeting quiet zone designation because of Hart Lane and D Street, which intersect the road near the crossing. As a result, Hoevertsz said, motorists entering Fulton from those streets might be able to get around the new safety features.

One option county officials are considering is closing off direct access to Fulton Road from those streets, in effect turning them both into cul-de-sacs.

“This is a big deal, but it shows how these issues are not black and white,” said Supervisor James Gore, whose district includes the intersection. “For (residents) to have a quiet zone, the county will have to make improvements that change completely the traffic patterns in that area.”

Gore said he is planning to host a neighborhood meeting for people to express their feelings about the possible impacts.

Another issue is several rail crossings on private property south of Petaluma to the Marin County line that are outliers in the current effort to put in quiet zones.

Under federal rules, such zones can only be established from one public crossing to another. Hoevertsz said officials in both counties are exploring the possibility of creating a quiet zone from public crossings in Novato and Petaluma that would cover the private crossings between those two points.