Waltham Scrambles To Have Feds Reinstate City As Quiet Zone

WALTHAM, MA — The city is scrambling to reinstate Waltham as a Quiet Zone, a little more than a month after the Federal Railway Administration revoked the city's designation.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy said the federal body may agree to put Waltham back in the Quiet Zone more quickly if it shows it's working to respond to safety issues at the four at-grade railroad crossings in town.

During a nationwide review in April, the Federal Railway Administration determined that city crossings lacked required "supplemental safety measures" that the city was requested to have going back to 2008, and thus no longer qualified as a quiet zone, according to the agency.

So, for the past month, train whistles and honking have sounded off at every train crossing in the city. Without a quiet zone, train engineers are required to sound horns or whistles for at least 15 seconds as they approach intersections at Beaver, Elm, Moody and South street intersections.

Neighbors are not pleased.

City officials reached out to authorities at the Federal Railway Administration and were told that if the city showed it was making a serious effort to increase the safety — and ensure no cars could drive around the lowered gates at the railroad crossings — it would put Waltham back on the Quiet Zone list, for 30 days as it worked to make permanent fixes.

"I submitted an official request to the Federal Railroad Administration with a plan to address the safety issues and to allow the Quiet Zone to continue to exist at Waltham’s railroad crossings," McCarthy said in a statement. "Once I hear from the Federal Railroad Administration I will update the public."

In late May, McCarthy sent a letter that noted the city planned to implement new curbs and medians at the four rail crossings. On June 4, she shared that the Federal Railway Administration needed more specifics and got permission from the Traffic Commission to send detailed plans.

The medians and curbing would be a first step toward a solution that the Federal Railway Administration would like to see and would buy Waltham a little more than three years to implement the final solution, Traffic Engineer J. Michael Garvin said during the June 4 traffic commission meeting.

Previously: Quiet Zone Revoked: Why Trains In Waltham Are Honking ...

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.