First of Cedar Rapids quiet zones could be complete within a year

CEDAR RAPIDS — In the city of Cedar Rapids’ long quest to establish “quiet zones” to reduce the number of train horns sounding downtown and the New Bohemia District, city staff anticipate the first phase of work will be complete within the next year or so.

But some members of the Cedar Rapids City Council this week expressed frustration with delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and material shortages, and sought assurance the railroad companies involved would make the improvements needed to establish the designated quiet zones.

The council Tuesday approved plans for an estimated $510,000 segment of quiet zone improvements on Fourth Street SE from First Avenue E to Fifth Avenue SE. As part of “Phase A,” this project will reconstruct roadway and railroad crossing approaches, as well as storm sewer, sidewalks and pedestrian ramps. New signage and pavement markings also will be installed.

This will be done in coordination with Union Pacific Railroad’s new railroad crossing gates and flashers at these crossings.

City Engineer Ken DeKeyser said Union Pacific has wrapped up installing signals and gates at First Avenue E, so the city will finish work around the crossing with the accessible sidewalk and pedestrian improvements such as safety rails.

As this Fourth Street SE project is in the works, DeKeyser said city staff are asking Canadian National Railway to provide an engineering agreement at Stickle Drive NE. That would allow the company to design the project and get on a construction schedule for signal and crossing improvements, he said. Then the city can complete road and sidewalk improvements.

That also is within Phase A, just north of downtown, and would complete the phase in 2024 or 2025.

“Then we can move onto Federal Railroad Administration to actually get the quiet zone implemented and up and running,” DeKeyser said.

City staff also are working with Union Pacific to finalize an engineering agreement and start design on Phase B. Construction could start in 2025, DeKeyser said.

In additional to Union Pacific and Canadian National, the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Company, known as CRANDIC, is the third company the city is working with to implement the zones.

To establish a quiet zone, safety upgrades to rail crossings need to be completed so they are in compliance with federal guidelines.

These safety upgrades include at least two gates and flashers, but also may include four gate systems, the addition of medians, closure of driveways near the railroad tracks and additional safety devices specifically for pedestrians.

The city is responsible for construction related to the roadway and sidewalk. But the railroad companies handle work associated with the rail lines, including gate arms, flashers and bells.

City assures ‘we are pushing it’

Because the railroads install these items, council member Scott Olson said one of the issues is that the city can’t “push that along or use different contractors.” He said work on the First Avenue E quiet zone improvements has been delayed for over two years because the railroad companies are struggling to secure necessary materials or equipment.

“We’ve spent lots of money, but yet we don’t get the quiet zone until A Avenue is done,” Olson said. “Are they going to push that out where we wait two or three years, spend the money but still don’t have the quiet zone?”

DeKeyser said discussions have been ongoing with railroads to get work going, and city staff are optimistic that Phase A will be in place this year.

“We are pushing it. Our discussions seem pretty optimistic. They seem to think they can get moving on that,” DeKeyser said of Canadian National, “but we have to get this agreement.”

Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said she and City Manager Jeff Pomeranz have had “productive conversations with some new leadership” at Canadian National.

Ashley Vanorny, in her seventh year serving on City Council, said the council anticipated the project would take two or three years when it started in 2017. That was the year voters first elected her.

“Knowing that there are several different agencies ... certainly we’re in our 175th year of Cedar Rapids because we were founded and brought together by rail. … But I also know that they move on their own timeline, so I want to temper expectations a little bit,” Vanorny said.

If there continues to be a standstill, Vanorny asked that staff let council know because “we’ve been hearing this is going to happen this year for several years now.”

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