# OKCpedia > General Real Estate Topics >  Quiet Zone

## MDot

> Apartments next to the park on Broadway between 11th and 13th.  Big issue is financing and getting the "quiet zone" completed for the railway.


I'm not trying to derail this thread but do you know the latest progress, if any, on the quiet zone?

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## dankrutka

Here's how quiet zone change seems to work in Oklahoma - everyone says they're going to get a quiet zone. No one ever gets a quiet zone.

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## Urban Pioneer

> I'm not trying to derail this thread but do you know the latest progress, if any, on the quiet zone?


Not "derailing" the thread at all.  Some believe that the quiet zone is critical to Midtown/Auto Alley housing projects.

I believe the designs were completed by Cardinal Engineering.  They call for "double gates" at 13th and 10th.  12th, 11th, 9th, 8th, and 7th would be closed to traffic by planters but allow for foot traffic of pedestrians.

The problem is the planters, double gates, and other physical improvements would be made via a TIF (Tax Increment Financing).  I am not sure what is in the the general TIF fund, but am assuming that some of the funds were presumed to be generated by the apartment's construction.  If that project is stalled, then obviously it is not generating the TIF funds for this area.  So simply put, the design is there, ready to be implemented, but if there is no apartment project, the funds would have to be spent out of some other TIF overlay.  That is what I have "pieced together" over conversations with people.

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## shane453

> Not "derailing" the thread at all.  Some believe that the quiet zone is critical to Midtown/Auto Alley housing projects.
> 
> I believe the designs were completed by Cardinal Engineering.  They call for "double gates" at 13th and 10th.  12th, 11th, 9th, 8th, and 7th would be closed to traffic by planters but allow for foot traffic of pedestrians.
> 
> The problem is the planters, double gates, and other physical improvements would be made via a TIF (Tax Increment Financing).  I am not sure what is in the the general TIF fund, but am assuming that some of the funds were presumed to be generated by the apartment's construction.  If that project is stalled, then obviously it is not generating the TIF funds for this area.  So simply put, the design is there, ready to be implemented, but if there is no apartment project, the funds would have to be spent out of some other TIF overlay.  That is what I have "pieced together" over conversations with people.


That's what I thought, but I think the city is still trying to push the blame onto BNSF. Meanwhile, even as a poor grad student, I'm ready to personally donate to the fund to purchase planters and double gates because the train really is that obnoxious, and it comes by so many times every night. PLANTERS? If that's all it takes, we can drag some temporary Jersey barriers down there and have a quiet zone on 5/7 crossings in 24 hours.

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## king183

Has anyone heard anything recently on this? This weekend I was out with a friend who is a surveyor for a surveying company in OKC.  He told me he completed survey work for this quiet zone a few months ago.  I was surprised by this because I thought the quiet zone was dead, but he told me they did all the work for it and thought the city planned to move forward soon.  Even though I trust him completely when he says he did the survey work, I'm still skeptical that this is close to happening, as I haven't heard anything about it recently (though I could have missed it).

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## kevinpate

> Here's how quiet zone change seems to work in Oklahoma - everyone says they're going to get a quiet zone. No one ever gets a quiet zone.


And nine months later, the first rule about quiet zones is still ... don't talk about quiet zones.

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## BoulderSooner

> Has anyone heard anything recently on this? This weekend I was out with a friend who is a surveyor for a surveying company in OKC.  He told me he completed survey work for this quiet zone a few months ago.  I was surprised by this because I thought the quiet zone was dead, but he told me they did all the work for it and thought the city planned to move forward soon.  Even though I trust him completely when he says he did the survey work, I'm still skeptical that this is close to happening, as I haven't heard anything about it recently (though I could have missed it).


it will mostly likely be in the 2016 bond issue ..

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## Urban Pioneer

Yes, your right.  And it sounds as though the Alliance for Economic Development is taking the lead on this.  They were at our MAPS 3 transit meeting and found our discussions on the NE line strong enough to start talking about expanding the quiet zone plan into Deep Deuce.

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## HangryHippo

> it will mostly likely be in the 2016 bond issue ..


2016?!  That's a damn shame...

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## Steve

It may move faster than that with other means of funding....

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## G.Walker

> It may move faster than that with other means of funding....


The City has a budget surplus according to recent news...

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## BoulderSooner

> It may move faster than that with other means of funding....


good news

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## Spartan

Yeah, after major cut backs in 2000 and 2009 which have never been fully restored, get in line...

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## Steve

Those positions were restored...

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## shadfar

i've seen the work done for the "Quiet Zone" (7th-10th street i know are done), but does anyone know when the quiet part will actually start?

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## catch22

I believe around SE 25th?

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## ljbab728

> I believe around SE 25th?


Catch, it looks like the question is when instead of where.

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## Bullbear

I thought I had read that it would begin by the first of the year. I know I have seen signs on a few crossing that state the train will not blow its horn at those intersections.

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## turnpup

It's funny how differently people react to the sound of the trains. Yesterday I was having coffee with a small group of women from our neighborhood. We all live within nearly the same distance from the tracks. Half of us said we liked the train sound and/or it didn't bother us, while the other half said it kept them awake and night and they were so happy it'd soon be quiet.

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## Bullbear

> It's funny how differently people react to the sound of the trains. Yesterday I was having coffee with a small group of women from our neighborhood. We all live within nearly the same distance from the tracks. Half of us said we liked the train sound and/or it didn't bother us, while the other half said it kept them awake and night and they were so happy it'd soon be quiet.


Very true. A friend and I were talking about it while eating at Hillbillys. we both don't mind it and many times don't pay any attention. someone else in the place was complaining that one had been through several times while they ate.  lol

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## shadfar

> I thought I had read that it would begin by the first of the year. I know I have seen signs on a few crossing that state the train will not blow its horn at those intersections.


I hope so!  Thank you.   I"m used to it now, but the first week was rough!

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## catch22

> Catch, it looks like the question is when instead of where.


You're right. The perils of surfing the web on a cell phone.

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## shadfar

Quick update:  still not quiet :-)     I would say that i'm used to it by now, but last night felt like 10-15 trains going by (slight exaggeration here).

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## shawnw

Oh yeah. I was eagerly awaiting the end of January to see if it got quiet but... you're right, it's not quiet. I wonder if it is a training issue.

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## LakeEffect

> Oh yeah. I was eagerly awaiting the end of January to see if it got quiet but... you're right, it's not quiet. I wonder if it is a training issue.


Quiet Zones are Federally-regulated, so I wonder if that process is taking a while. Federal Railroad Administration has to review all the work before issuing a notice to BNSF that a Quiet Zone is in place.

I could be wrong... but that's my educated guess.

From FRA:

"10. Establish the quiet zone by providing a Notice of Quiet Zone Establishment to all of the parties that are listed in 49 CFR Section 222.43(a)(3). Be sure to include all of the required contents in the notice as listed in 49 CFR Section 222.43(d). The quiet zone can take effect no earlier than 21 days after the date on which the Notice of Quiet Zone Establishment is mailed."

https://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L04781 

One thing I've noticed is that the contractor has NOT covered the "No Train Horn" signs, which causes some confusion right now. FRA's document says "These signs may need to be covered until the quiet zone is in effect."

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## d-usa

Not to get political, but could the quiet zone be part of the whole "no new regulations issued" thing going on right now? I read somewhere that the FAA can't issue air worthiness directives right now because of it, so maybe the FRA is having the same problems.

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## shawnw

I'm under the impression from Norman friends that the Norman quiet zone is in effect. Didn't they start on theirs after ours (DTOKC)? If so, how did theirs get implemented first?

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## kevinpate

Many intersections were closed, way more than a decade ago, leaving very few intersections to upgrade, with crossings being upgraded over the years.  Another was removed by the Robinson St. Underpass that opened years ago.

All in all, silencing the trains seems dang near an afterthought.

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## shadfar

as of last night, still blowing them horns in OKC (midtown/automobile alley area) ..

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## shawnw

Oh don't I know it. I live downtown and have been sleeping with the windows open with the nice weather....

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## OkiePoke

> as of last night, still blowing them horns in OKC (midtown/automobile alley area) ..


That were blowing them today. I did notice a caution sign that the train does not blow it's horn.

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## riflesforwatie

> That were blowing them today. I did notice a caution sign that the train does not blow it's horn.


Yeah some of those signs have been up since the construction on 7th/8th/9th/10th back in the late autumn. And yet the horns continue to blow...

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## 2Lanez

I've heard the quiet zone through downtown should begin this week.

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## Pete

Press release from the City:


02/27/2017

Link to story                                                                                                                              

Railroad ‘quiet zone’ begins by early March in downtown Oklahoma City

The piercing sound of a locomotive’s horn won’t be reverberating in downtown Oklahoma City for much longer.

The Federal Railway Administration has approved a “quiet zone” in downtown Oklahoma City that will allow trains to move through the urban core without sounding a horn at downtown intersections.

*The quiet zone takes effect Feb. 28, but it could take about 48 hours before railroad operators’ automated systems are fully updated. Updates should be complete by March 3.*

The quiet zone runs for about three miles between SE 23rd Street and NE 16th Street. Within that zone, all railroad intersections with City streets have been rebuilt to include additional safety and traffic control elements that allow locomotives to pass through without sounding horns.

Typically, train operators sound a locomotive’s horn as they approach intersections as an advance audio warning to drivers and pedestrians. Improvements within quiet zones make this unnecessary unless there’s an emergency, like something blocking the railroad tracks.

Eleven intersections were improved to create Oklahoma City’s quiet zone.

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## turnpup

Why was I thinking it ran further north than 16th?

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## shawnw

Since 23rd is elevated they really shouldn't have to blow horns until 36th? Or whenever it goes back to grade...

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## turnpup

> Since 23rd is elevated they really shouldn't have to blow horns until 36th? Or whenever it goes back to grade...


Thank you. That may have been where I got it into my pea brain. No telling.

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## BoulderSooner

> Since 23rd is elevated they really shouldn't have to blow horns until 36th? Or whenever it goes back to grade...


They don't have to blow horns until Wilshire on the north.  And se 25th on the south

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## LakeEffect

> Thank you. That may have been where I got it into my pea brain. No telling.


Wilshire is technically the first time, but they do blow horns when starting up in the yard/crew change point at 23rd/24th. It's one short blast though.

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## turnpup

> Wilshire is technically the first time, but they do blow horns when starting up in the yard/crew change point at 23rd/24th. It's one short blast though.


Gotcha. We were usually not bothered by them anyway, save for the few times when outside trying to have a conversation and one came through a little heavy-handed on the horn.

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## shadfar

after a year i got used to them, but that some good news!

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## GoThunder

There are some hilarious comments on the NewsOK Facebook post if you need a laugh.

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## ljbab728

Steve's update.

http://m.newsok.com/article/5539557

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## Plutonic Panda

> Steve's update.
> 
> http://m.newsok.com/article/5539557


retiny

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## shadfar

so far two peaceful nights without horns!

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## shawnw

Yep, sat at Kamps 1910 for 90 minutes last night and 4 trains went by without horns!

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## KayneMo

I live just under 2 blocks from the railroad. It's been so quite, I kind of miss the horns lol. For the great majority of my life (about 24 of my 26 years), in 4 different cities/towns, I've never lived more than 3 blocks away from a railroad.

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