MELBOURNE, Fla. — Thirty times a day is how often the Brightline train passes through Brevard County, and at every intersection, the train horn blows as a warning.
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The trains start their day just before five and make their final departure just before 9 p.m. at night, and that means train horns twice an hour, every hour.
Dave and Martha Heaton knew it would come with some noise, but for years, it was just the occasional freight train or planes at the Air Force base; what they didn’t expect a decade ago was this.
“You feel like you’re in a crossroads of the world,” Dave Heaton said.
The city has 18 crossings, and 32 trains go from Orlando to Miami.
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So now they’re asking the city of Melbourne for quiet zones.
“We knew we were buying on a railroad track,” Dave Heaton said. “So you know, we can’t complain about the noise. However, since there is an option with the federal railway act to get a noiseless or a quiet zone, then we want to look into it and support it.”
Under the train horn rule, engineers must sound horns 15-20 seconds before crossings.
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Still, the Federal Rail Administration does allow for quiet zones if there are safety upgrades at intersections, including medians or gate arms on both sides of the tracks that cover all lanes of the road.
Brightline has already spent tens of millions of dollars on safety improvements along its route, which may help the communities qualify for quiet zones.
However, getting the zones in place means action from the city to study the zones, which will take time and money.
Quiet zones have been implemented along the Brightline route within Palm Beach and Broward counties, with efforts underway to establish them in parts of the Treasure Coast, too.
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The quiet zone process is led by the Federal Railroad Administration and the local authorities with jurisdiction over the roadway.
Brightline said it “encourages continued safety education and outreach by all local governments along the FEC Railway/Brightline corridor.”
If Melbourne decides to move forward, it won’t likely happen for a while; it could take at least a year.
The city was supposed to discuss the quiet zones this evening at Tuesday’s city council meeting, but it was removed from the agenda. People plan to take the issue up during public comment.
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