City to continue push for railroad quiet zones

Columbus city officials will continue to press for quiet zones at railroad intersections throughout the city.

That would require the increasing train traffic through the city to mute their horns as they pass through Columbus, but it would also require safety improvements at each of the four intersections, at an estimated cost of $250,000 each, says Dave Hayward, the city engineer.

While the price is steep, the quiet zones would become more important for the city if the plans to increase the train traffic through the city to more than 20 trips a day move forward. Hayward said that the city has about $800,000 earmarked from federal transportation dollars for the quiet zone project, which would require a 20 percent match from city funds.

Heather Pope, director of the Columbus Redevelopment Commission, said that this would be the first quiet zone requested from the Louisville & Indiana railroad.

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission agreed to switch contractors for the ongoing negotiations, moving from a former Louisville and Indiana company president to an organization called CTC. The redevelopment commission agreed to pay the new $41,700 contract.