Town Of Wakefield: Town Looks To Open Broadway Crossing The Week Of September 20

Press release from the Town of Wakefield:

September 15, 2021 - 6:09pm

Town Looks to Open Broadway Crossing the Week of September 20Train warning horns will blow temporarily

At the September 13 Town Council meeting, Town Engineer Bill Renault updated the community about the reopening of the Broadway rail crossing. He informed the Council that he has received approval on the most recent safety-improvement plan contained in the Town’s Amended Public Authority Application submitted to the FRA in June 2021.  The plan was revised based on Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) feedback. The approval of this application is required to open the crossing and maintain Wakefield’s Pre-Rule Quiet Zone status.

What is a quiet zone?

Being designated as a Quiet Zone eliminates the need for all trains to sound their horns at each of the Town’s six at-grade railroad crossings.  To be a quiet zone community, at-grade crossings must be below an established risk index; the risk index is based upon accident history and traffic volume. Safety measures, including curb islands, crossing gates, channelization medians, signage, pavement markings, etc., are installed at intersections to lower the community’s risk indices.  Wakefield is a Pre-Rule Quiet Zone community.  This “grandfathering” of the quiet zone benefits the Town because the risk-index requirements are less stringent.

As Mr. Renault previously informed the Council, opening the crossing by eliminating the Town’s Pre-Rule Quiet Zone status entirely would have required Wakefield to reapply based on newer safety benchmarks. Reapplication would require a significantly higher financial investment to bring several other crossings up to the new standards.

Approval on Wakefield’s Amended Public Authority Application submission

The submission process for the Amended Public Authority Application included a 60-day comment period which concluded at the end of August. The Town was not informed of any objections by the MBTA, Keolis, Amtrak, et al during this time. Mr. Renault noted, however, that the Washington, D.C.-based FRA has still yet to issue its approval document to the Town, now two weeks after the close of the appeal window.

The final step in the process, after receiving the FRA’s approval notice, would be to file an Amended Notice of Establishment (NOE) to open Broadway with the additional safety measures included in the application. This NOE process includes a 21-day comment/appeal period as well. Had the FRA provided the approval of the Amended Public Authority Application in a timely manner, and safety-measure construction completed on the on the crossing, Broadway could have opened the week of September 20 with no horns sounding in Town. Mr. Renault noted that the FRA’s failure to issue its approval documentation has forced him to seek alternative options to speed up the reopening.

An alternative reopening plan

Working in conjunction with our locally based FRA representative, the Town requested an exception from FRA management to allow the Town to maintain its Pre-Rule Quiet Zone status and open the Broadway crossing, provided safety-improvement work at the Broadway and Greenwood crossings is complete.  This construction is scheduled to be complete by the week of September 20.

The FRA agreed to the Town’s proposal with the provision that the train horns will sound temporarily until all FRA paperwork is processed.  This alternative opening plan was not an option earlier, as the FRA wanted to conclude the appeal period for our safety-improvement plan and have all proposed improvements installed.  

The sounding of the train horns will be temporary, but must occur until the FRA’s final approval is received. An estimate is five-to-six weeks out from the September 20 reopening goal week, though that is our approximation based on the FRA’s speed throughout the project. The Town Council voted 7-0 to allow the train horns to sound in order to open the Broadway crossing prior to receiving the FRA documents.

Why do we hear horns now, before the crossing has opened?

Even in a quiet zone, conductors can exercise discretion during emergency situations, like the presence of a vehicle or a person on the track. Under federal regulations, engineers must sound the horn to warn railroad maintenance employees or contractors working on the tracks. Track is currently being replaced in the corridor, prompting warning horns.

Changes to the timeline

At the meeting, a member of the public asked that Town leaders be open about “worst-case scenario” timelines. In that vein, we want to disclose factors that could potentially, though unlikely, create a delay. Although crews are on track to complete construction of Broadway’s safety installations the week of September 20, they could be impacted by weather or equipment issues, for example. While our local FRA representative has been very attentive throughout this situation, he does need to perform a site inspection once construction is complete; an emergency at his office could impact his visit. It is also possible, though extremely unlikely, that an organization will make an objection during the final appeal period.

To be clear, this project is a priority for our municipal staff and reopening the crossing quickly and safely is our goal. If you have additional questions about this plan, you can contact the Wakefield Public Works Engineering Division at 781-246-6308.   

This press release was produced by the Town of Wakefield.The views expressed here are the author’s own.