With the prospect of Midtown on the horizon the city has taken steps to sweeten the development of the long-awaited residential and commercial haven mere steps from downtown.
The city has entered an agreement with CSX to make the railroad track running parallel to West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Laura Street a Quiet Zone. While working through the agreement CSX came back with requirements that caused the city to need to allocate an extra $185,000 more to cbe able to omplete the project.
“CSX came back with more requirements so we needed added funds to be able to complete the project,” City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “We’re still several months out from completion. CSX has these regulations and we have to comply with that. There’s no working around it.”
The $185,000 is included in the budget adjustment and comes from contingency in the Community Redevelopment Agency’s fund.
If you’ve ever grabbed a cup of coffee or visited a store downtown, you’ve probably gotten used to the blaring horns of incoming trains as the conductors warn motorists and pedestrians they are preparing to enter town.
The Federal Railroad Administration has specific requirements that detail how long, when and where the train must sound its horn. In the late 1980s there was an increase in train collisions at crossings where nighttime whistle bans were established, according to the FRA. By 2005 the final rule on quiet zones had been implemented.
The quiet zone will act as an exemption to the FRA horn rules, which means when a train is approaching a crossing it will not be routinely sounded. However, it doesn’t mean there will never be a horn blown on the track. The FRA said it may still occur in any emergency situations or for safety reasons.
To combat the lack of a warning, communities with a quiet zone have to have upgraded warning devices and additional safety measures to help prevent any dangerous collisions with incoming freight cars.
Currently the section near Midtown of the track adjacent to Laura St. is the only one being outfitted as a quiet zone. The track parallel to Drane St. in the heart of downtown is still going to be filled with frequent, horn-blowing trains.
The city works with the Florida Department of Transportation with its Quiet Zone Grant Program Phase III funding agreement, which meant FDOT and the city would split the Quiet Zone capital improvement cost 50/50, totaling $330,000.
Preliminary construction costs from FDOT included six highway rail-grade crossings and one pedestrian crossing along the .53-mile section of the track. The additional CSX requirements were added after the initial construction costs were approved.
CSX construction was $19,511 more than the proposed $330,000. The pedestrian crossing will cost $15,000. Engineering fees went up from $40,000 to $57,266. Flagging and inspection will cost $31,257. CSX contingency is $44,377 and the city’s contingency is $17,589. FDOT will be funding $165,000 of the total project.