San Diego Quiet Zone

Good afternoon,

I just heard from the FRA inspector. Everyone worked really hard and fast to fix this situation. The quiet zone suspension has been lifted. He got confirmation that the Coaster and the Trolley removed the notices instructing train crews to sound the horn. He has not heard from BNSF, so it still may take time for everything to return to normal.

This is great news.
Janet
The Train Coalition

Hello everyone,

I have several updates on Train related issues. Believe me this level of activity is unusual for the Train Coalition.

1. I talked with the FRA Quiet Zone inspector. He said the City is making good headway with their compliance issues for the Quiet Zone (QZ). There is a travel study requirement that the city has to do to maintain the QZ. It’s a traffic count, which must be done every 2-3 years. This number goes into a FRA calculator and determines the level of risk of the QZ corridor and whether the supplemental safety measures installed still provide an adequate amount of risk reduction required to qualify. They use that information to determine if additional safety measures are needed.
After the City's work is done and all the paperwork is filed, the FRA must review everything. Hopefully the QZ is restored very soon but don't be surprised or disturbed IF the horns continue to blow for a few days into February, while the FRA completes its evaluation.

2. Airport Connector: SANDAG's Elevated Automated People Mover (APM) will be presented to the SANDAG Board again in February or March. We will need representation. They are adding the Trolley to the CEQA evaluation, which is great. Advocacy from this group and other people got the Trolley into the environmental study. The Trolley is a much better alternative to the airport. We asked that the Port's proposed streetcar idea from Broadway to the Airport with dedicated transit lanes on Harbor Drive be included as well.
However, there is a problem with any new rail. At the state level, light rail, streetcars or people movers operate under rail rules of the Public Utility Commission. PUC has a rule restricting new rail to above or below ground at intersections. That is why the Trolley extension on Genesee is above ground. That is why the APM is above ground. A trolley extension to the airport will have to follow the same rules, and why we want that new extension, whether above or below ground (called above or below GRADE), outside of downtown.

3. I talked with LOSSAN's (Amtrak's ) Managing Director Jason Jewell Friday about 2 issues.
a. Of course the bluff collapse at San Clemente is a major problem. He hopes that the rail is open in a couple of days, but that depends on what they find when the debris is removed and the section of the pedestrian bridge is removed. A Protect-in-Place study is already underway from the earlier problems to determine a short-medium term solution (which probably covers 20-30 years). CalSTA has already been asked to do a long term study, which may require the rail to be relocated away from the coast, like they are doing in Del Mar. That would cost Billions. The Coastal Commission is also heavily involved in whatever solutions are available.

b. Several of you are aware of the $300,000 we got in 2018, with the help of then Assemblyman Gloria, to find a new overnight layover/maintenance facility for Amtrak that would provide all the maintenance capabilities they need. Santa Fe Depot is insufficient as a layover and maintenance facility. That study resulted in a new yard adjacent to the BNSF rail yard southeast of Petco Park, called the Cesar Chavez Yard. A lot of work was completed on that option including an environmental study and drawings and plans. For various reasons, BNSF decided they are going to use that area for other projects and Amtrak lost that option. So instead of the layover facility moving in a few years, they are back to the drawing board.
Jason said the original study also identified a potential layover site in the Miramar military base and they are looking into that location, which would require a rail extension. They are already speaking with the DOD to consider the feasibility of that location. However, the State Rail Plan is considering Coaster and Amtrak service extensions to San Ysidro. If that becomes a serious extension, which partly depends on ridership studies, then the layover/maintenance facility may be better suited down there. Nothing has been decided.
As part of the Federal Infrastructure Bill, the FRA wants to identify and prioritize projects in the pipeline for extensions. He said Caltrans is looking into all of this. Rail projects often take decades to complete and lots of funding. A significant amount of the rail money in the Infrastructure Bill is being allocated to High Speed Rail.
Bottom line: At the moment, there is no new San Diego layover/maintenance facility being built or designed, but they are still pursuing options.

All the best,
Janet

On January 19, 2024 I received the following email from Mayor Todd Gloria.

Good news !!!!
I just received the following email from Mayor Todd Gloria:

Dear Pat,

Thank you for your email.

I fully recognize and apologize for the distress the Quiet Zone suspension is causing residents who live near the train tracks.

The City is working with urgency to correct deficiencies and bring the Quiet Zone into compliance. City crews are working today on replacement signage, pavement markings and flex posts identified as deficient by the Federal Railroad Administration during an inspection on Wednesday. We will work through the weekend until all these tasks are complete.

Remaining traffic counts that are required in order to have the suspension lifted will be completed by the end of January to submit for the FRA’s evaluation.

Our office will work closely with the FRA to resolve this situation as quickly as possible, and we will provide regular updates to the public until it is.

Thank you again for reaching out.

Sincerely,


TODD GLORIA
Mayor
City of San Diego

Little Italy, Downtown San Diego 'Quiet Zone' temporarily suspended by federal railroad officials CBS 8 has learned that the Federal Railroad Administration issued a temporary Quiet Zone suspension near the Laurel Street and Fifth Avenue railroad crossings.

This news comes to us from Janet and the Embarcadero Coalition. It is incumbent on all of us to express anger with the lack of attention to our Quiet Zone that many of us have worked so hard to make a reality.

Good afternoon,

Normally I wouldn't send non-Port information to this email address, but I think it is important information for downtown residents.

Most of you don't know, but I am also involved with the Train Coalition at Santa Fe Depot.

The FRA has temporarily suspended the Quiet Zone due to non-compliance issues. The City failed to maintain the required stripping and notices, etc. The FRA has been trying to get the City to comply since January 2023 and it was warned about possible temporary suspension of the Quiet Zone.

January 17th, 2024, FRA reviewed the corridor and it still wasn't in compliance.

Yesterday the FRA Issued a Form C, which temporarily suspends the Quiet Zone until the City is in compliance. That could take a considerable amount of time.

Contact CM Whitburn and the Mayor's office. Traffic Engineering dropped the ball but FRA sent a letter to the Mayor in July.

Janet

Read the following Quiet Zone Train Horn Info
Thursday, 14 October 2021 14:03:00 · from Leland Phillips

I posted a note a while back about how to report horn soundings in the downtown quiet zone (https://www.fra.dot.gov/app/violationreport).

I and other residents have received rather vague feedback from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Coaster that horns are often sounded because of some issue with the crossing that obviates the "no horns" rule and requires a repair action to fix the root cause. Given that train horns are being sounded at multiple consecutive crossings, it didn't make sense to me that a *repair* issue was the root cause so I pressed the FRA to see if they could help with more specific information that might be actionable. After multiple attempts i got this response today:

Thank you for contacting the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) with your train horn noise concerns.

I talked to FRA California District representative to find out what is going on in San Diego. During an FRA inspections there were transient campsites/trespasser noted. Because of these circumstances, the trains are going to sound the horn. I was also informed that the City officials and the police department are working together to try and remove the campsites.

You may wish to contact your City officials and the police department to find out what steps they are taking to eliminate the trespass situation, so the people of San Diego can once again enjoy their quiet zone.

I hope this information is helpful.

JoAnn Scott
Federal Railroad Administration
Outreach and Trepass Division
1200 New Jersey Avenue
Washington, DC 20002
[email protected]

Violation Report The public homepage for the Federal Railroad Administration, an operating mode of the Department of Transportation.

Silence is Golden

Project Study Report
Middletown-Old Town San Diego Quiet Zonehttps://www.sandag.org/uploads/projectid/projectid_260_24909.pdf