Clinton wants to make sure parts of the city aren’t noisy when trains go through.

The city has announced its intent to create a New Railroad Crossing Quiet Zone within corporate limits. The Quiet Zone would be along a section of the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad Company, also known as the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railroad.

There are five railroad crossings that the city of Clinton is working on to turn them into “Quiet Zones.” The first crossing is at 32 Avenue North. The other four include 30th Avenue North, 25th Avenue North, 24th Avenue North, and finally 23rd Avenue North.

“The train usually blows their horn 10 to 12 times per crossing,” said Clinton Engineer Jason Craft. “That’s just a lot. The council had an appetite to consider quiet zones.”

According to the notice, a one-mile section of the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern Railroad, Davenport Subdivision, from M.P. 154.00 to M.P. 155.00, would have a 24-hour whistle-ban Quiet Zone within the city. There are four public highway railroad crossings included in the Zone, along with an exclusively pedestrian crossing. 

There are no other public crossings and no private crossings within the Quiet Zone segment. All railroad crossings are on city streets, which are owned and maintained by Clinton. The city also provides traffic law enforcement and EMS services at all five locations. 

This project is in response to the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railroads. The crossings have new safety mechanisms like flashing, electronic bells, special sensors and quadrant gates. Trains that pass on through will not have to use their loud horns in these areas anymore because of the upgrades.  

“With all those gates, lights, and constant warning times, circuitry along the tracks, it’s safer and you don’t have to listen to the horns,” said Craft.

“Some of those residents that have been there for 50, 60 years or more and have had trains the entire time through there are now not going to have those train horns as they come through,” said Clinton Mayor Scott Maddasion. “It’s kind of a multiple-faceted approach to get it done and it’s really going to benefit not only businesses but residents as well.”

Just because these updated crossings exist, it doesn’t mean the horns can not be used at all.

“If there is a situation there, say there are a lot of people or there is some sort of hazard, they can absolutely blow a horn in a quiet zone. they have that discretion,” said Maddasion.

 We were told by a couple of City Council members, along with the Clinton Mayor and Engineer, that this is phase 2 of this project. They have already made some Quiet Zones from 6th Avenue South to 9th Avenue North.

“In our downtown area…it’s nice to not have the train horns blowing down through there,” said Maddasion. “Our baseball stadium is right along the train tracks so it’s nice to not have the horns being blown during a baseball game.”

Craft is also hopeful that the work on the railroad crossings will be done by the end of April

The notice was sent to:

• Kyle Spree, Manager Public Works – US Canadian Pacific Railroad

• Kristopher Klop, Manager, Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Programs, Iowa Department of Transportation, Rail Section

• Steve Gent, Department Director, Iowa Department of Transportation, Traffic Safety Division 

• Levi Tompkins, Railroad Safety Inspector, Federal Railroad Administration

• Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety in Washington, D.C.

• Kevin Gyrion, Police Chief, City of Clinton

The impacted crossings include:

• Crossing # 376045W – 32^nd Avenue North – Milepost 154.00
• Crossing #376043H – 30^th Avenue North – Milepost 154.20
• Crossing #376041U – 25^th Avenue North – Milepost 154.72 (exclusively pedestrian crossing)
• Crossing #376040M – 24^th Avenue North – Milepost 154.81
• Crossing #376039T – 23^rd Avenue North – Milepost 154.89

Information or comments about the proposed quiet zone in Clinton should be sent to Jason Craft, PE, City Engineer, City of Clinton, 611 S. 3^rd St., Clinton, Iowa 52732. To contact Craft, call 563-244-3423 or email Email: j.

All comments or no-comment statements must be filed by March 25.