City making progress on railroad quiet zone
A train runs through town earlier this winter.
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
Columbia Falls is looking to take some key steps in the coming weeks to making the city a little quieter.
City leaders were meeting with BNSF Railway officials this week to take a first-hand look at closing one crossing and reconstructing another to create a “quiet zone” here.
A quiet zone is a zone on the tracks where a train would not automatically sound its whistle as it goes through a crossing.
The city has sought to create one here for decades, but now it looks like this time it might actually see success.
In order to create a quiet zone, the city will have to jump through some legal hoops, in addition to building some street infrastructure.
The legal hoops require the city to formally ask the county to annex 2nd Ave West North and 4th Ave East North right of ways adjacent to the railroad tracks.
Those roads are actually county roads, but because the county closes roads in a different legal process than the city, it’s easier for the city to annex them from the county, as the city is leading the effort for the quiet zone, noted city manager Susan Nicosia.
Once that happens, the city would close the 4th Ave East North railroad crossing (and the street leading to the tracks) and revamp the 2nd Ave East North crossing to quiet zone standards.
Under the plan, 2nd Ave East North would have features to keep motorists safe at the crossing, including a raised median and fencing along the tracks, as well as gates.
Some state highway funds could be made available for the project, but so far, the city has been paying for engineering and other costs to get it this far.
This story has been corrected to reflect the correct crossing roads.