O.C. puts $60 million into ‘quiet zone’ fund

Orange County transportation planners on Monday approved a $60-million plan for quieter railroad crossings, a move designed to eliminate ear-splitting train horns at crossings throughout the county.

The plan calls for adding gates, new signals and other upgrades to 53 crossings, including 16 in Orange. Design work for rail crossings will begin immediately. Construction is expected to begin next year and be completed by 2010, a Orange County Transportation Authority spokesman said.

“We’re very pleased,” said Jim Owens, an Orange homeowner who has campaigned for “quiet zones.” “The tide has turned.”

Cities have been pushed to establish quiet zones -- silencing horns that legally can howl up to 110 decibels, roughly equivalent to standing next to a running chain saw. Train engineers are required to sound their horns -- one short blast followed by a long blast -- 1,000 feet before reaching a pedestrian or vehicle crossing without various safety features.

Owens and other community groups were prompted by a $434-million plan by the Orange County Transportation Authority to have Metrolink trains running every 30 minutes between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel by 2009.

Residents in Santa Ana, Orange, San Clemente and elsewhere in the county have pressed city officials and OCTA for help reducing or eliminating train horns sounding at crossings.

“I’m ecstatic,” Isabel Reed of Santa Ana said. “I’m sure everybody else in my neighborhood is very happy because the trains and the noise seem to be getting more frequent and louder.”

Cities can earn quiet-zone status for train crossings by installing a variety of improvements, including enhanced flashing signals, gates that can’t be driven around, and overpasses or underpasses.

Two weeks ago, Placentia became the county’s only city to earn certification for a quiet zone from the Federal Railroad Administration.

OCTA Chairwoman Carolyn Cavecche, who is mayor of Orange, said her city had set aside $1.4 million in matching funds for the crossing upgrades. The plan calls for cities to pay 12% of the cost, with OCTA paying the remainder.

“Orange is ready to go,” Cavecche said.

Other cities seeking upgrades and quiet-zone status are Anaheim, Dana Point, Irvine, Fullerton, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana and Tustin.

OCTA’s commuter rail manager, Darrell Johnson, said Placentia’s zone was a good one to copy, just without the financial pitfalls.

Placentia sought to dig trenches for the trains and eliminate the need for engineers to sound the horns as they rolled through town.

But after $55 million was spent and a near municipal bankruptcy, the trench plans died and two former city leaders were indicted on criminal charges.

Eventually, the city installed an underpass and ground-level safety features to gain the quiet-zone distinction.

david.reyes@latimes.com