Encinitas to Host Rail Safety Horn Demo at Proposed Montgomery Crossing

ENCINITAS, CA — This Thursday, Sept. 22 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., the city of Encinitas will be demonstrating potential safety horn sounds that are required to accompany a proposed at-grade pedestrian rail crossing.

The demonstration will provide an opportunity for the community to experience and hear the difference between a wayside horn and a train horn. The public is invited to attend the demonstration event near the George Berkich Park at Cardiff Elementary School, the designated community gathering location.

In order to understand how each potential horn will sound in the proposed crossing area, the city will demonstrate three wayside horn options using devices similar to those that would be installed with the construction of an at-grade crossing. The demonstration will include a quieter, pedestrian-focused horn option that has been successfully implemented in San Clemente.

During the demonstration, the devices will be sounded numerous times and sound measurements will be taken by an acoustical monitoring firm at various positions in the surrounding area. The firm will analyze the data to determine how each sound would affect the surrounding areas.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requires train horns to be sounded at most public rail crossings. The FRA has a waiver process that would not require train horns to be sounded as they approach rail crossings. The process would require the installation of an audible warning system, a wayside horn, at the rail crossing. The wayside horn would provide an equivalent level of sound notification at the crossing as the train horn, but would limit the noise to the immediate area of the crossing.

Last year, in order to provide a safe, legal bicycle and pedestrian crossing over the railroad tracks in the Cardiff area, the Encinitas City Council provided funding and authorized City staff to pursue a rail crossing near Montgomery Avenue, just north of Cardiff Elementary School. New rail crossings require the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), an agency that is responsible for statewide rail safety. In order to promote safety, the CPUC requires that new crossings include numerous safety measures, including gates, warning lights and safety bells.

The proposed at-grade rail crossing is currently under design and if approved could be constructed as early as December 2019. An at-grade crossing, would allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross at the same level as the tracks, similar to what they do at existing roadway crossings, such as Chesterfield Drive and E Street. The new crossing will not allow vehicles to cross.

Demonstration event parking will be allowed in the Cardiff Elementary School lot and signs will direct attendees to the demonstration viewing area. Persons attending the demonstration are reminded that it is neither safe nor legal to walk within the railroad right of way.

The public can provide comments on-site following the demonstration or email feedback to CMLS@encinitasca.gov. The feedback that is collected will be presented at a public meeting regarding the proposed rail crossing. The date of that meeting is expected to occur in November, following processing and compilation of the acoustical monitoring data that will be collected at the demonstration. For more information about the wayside horn test, crossing alternatives, and future public meetings related to these projects, please visit Encinitasca.gov/cmls.

— New release from the city of Encinitas

Patch file photo/Maggie Avants