Trains will soon be quiet in residential areas again, St. Louis City says

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - St. Louis City says that the Railroad Quiet Zone should return in the coming weeks, following nearly two months of horn soundings at crossings throughout the city.

Following several months of train horns sounding across multiple residential areas, on Friday St. Louis City said they are now compliant with the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) criteria to reinstate the Quiet Zone.

The FRA said that while the reinstatement of the quiet zone will go into effect immediately, it will take 7-10 days for all systems and protocols to be updated and for the train horns to cease.

The new updates to St. Louis City’s railroad crossings include: replacing outdated railroad bars and installing “stop bars” that are painted, and installing hundreds of new larger signs measuring 36 inches.

“Our Traffic and Lighting crews stayed focused under pressure and worked incredibly hard to meet all the necessary requirements – and they did this well ahead of our anticipated schedule,” said Mayor Cara Spencer. “They showed what real teamwork looks like, putting the needs of our residents first and foremost.”

This comes a month before the anticipated timeline that the city proposed at its emergency meeting called on Oct. 6th.

The total cost to the city to perform these upgrades and return to compliance was around $105,000.