The Federal Railway Administration (FRA) recently announced publication of a rule to allow communities to quiet train horns at railroad grade crossings nationwide if important safety requirements are met. A train horn "Quiet Zone" can be created in the Village of New Hyde Park by upgrading the existing grade crossing safety devices. Train horns could be silenced at the LIRR Mainline New Hyde Park Road, South 12th Street, and Covert Avenue grade crossings, using "supplementary safety measures" outlined in the "Train Horn" rule.

The Federal Railway Administration (FRA) has provided an online calculator to create Quiet Zones using grade crossing warning device data, traffic data and accident risk data. The "FRA Quiet Zone Calculator" allowed me to develop a real world scenario for the creation of a "Quiet Zone" at all three mainline grade crossings in the Village of New Hyde Park. This can be achieved by installing "Four-Quadrant Gates" across the entire opening of the New Hyde Park Road, South 12th Street and Covert Avenue grade crossings. In addition, a roadway center divider median of approximately 60-feet would be installed on each side of the New Hyde Park Road grade crossing only. All three grade crossings would be safer.

Under the new FRA rule, the public authority responsible for safety and maintenance of the roadway that crosses the railroad tracks is the only entity that can designate or apply for quiet zone status. For Covert Avenue and New Hyde Park Road the public authority is Nassau County. For South 12th Street the public authority is the Village of New Hyde Park. Working together, Village of New Hyde Park and Nassau County officials can make a "New Hyde LIRRR Mainline Grade Crossing Quiet Zone" happen.

Hundreds of trains run through the Village of New Hyde Park with engineers blowing train horns at the three LIRR grade crossings at all hours of the day and night. The safety devices currently installed at the three grade crossings, coupled with train engineers blowing train horns, still leaves our community with a significant safety risk factor well above the FRA's "National Significant Risk Threshold" for at-grade railroad crossings. In fact, the current three grade crossing group "Risk Index With Horn" is five (5) times above the "National Significant Risk Threshold." Creating a "Quiet Zone" in the Village of New Hyde Park will not only eliminate the constant drone of train horns, but it will make the community safer by bringing our safety risk in line with the "National Significant Risk Threshold."

The creation of a "New Hyde Park LIRR Mainline Grade Crossing Group Quiet Zone" would be one of the most important safety and quality-of-life improvements for village residents, commuters, pedestrians, drivers and train engineers in decades. Let's make this happen sooner rather than later.