Petaluma appears ready to limit SMART train horns...or is it?

The city of Petaluma appears on track to become the first in the North Bay to silence train horns except in emergency situations, much to the relief of some residents who’ve complained the noise is a nuisance.

“I feel like throwing a party,” said Bob Ulmer, who first complained to city officials last summer about the horn noise at his Petaluma Estates Mobile Home Park residence near the North McDowell Avenue rail crossing in east Petaluma.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit authority is testing trains and warning systems along the 43-mile rail line from north Santa Rosa to downtown San Rafael.

According to SMART’s draft schedule, once passenger service begins - currently timed to late spring - trains will pass through public at-grade crossings 30 times a day on weekdays, and a dozen more times daily on weekends. At a minimum, that’s 174 horn blasts over a typical seven-day week, starting before dawn and ending after dark.

In response to complaints about the horns, officials representing cities and unincorporated areas across Sonoma and Marin counties have pressed forward with plans for establishing so-called “quiet zones” to limit the noise. Such zones prohibit horns except in limited circumstances, including when a vehicle, person or animal is on the track or when crossing gates are not functioning.

Petaluma plans to implement quiet zones for city rail crossings on April 19, according to an email City Engineer Curt Bates circulated to City Manager John Brown and other city officials.

Bates wrote the work order to purchase and install “No Train Horn” signs is complete, and his department is making the job a priority in order to “have everything ready.”

However, there appears to be lingering confusion among Petaluma officials whether April 19 is a firm date for silencing the horns. Neither Bates nor Brown returned several messages last week seeking comment.

Councilman Mike Healy, who forwarded Bates’ email to Ulmer, said he expects the April date will hold.

“Most people were relieved when the council took the action we did to initiate the process,” Healy said. “Folks like Bob (Ulmer), who can basically reach out his window and touch the trains, are the ones most anxious to have (the horn sound) stopped as soon as possible.”

But Mayor David Glass said he interpreted Bates’ email to mean only that the signs will go up April 19. He expressed concern about the horn rules being enforced while SMART is still testing the trains.

“The bottom line is we need to be safe,” he said.

A spokeswoman for SMART signaled the rail agency will not abide by any quiet zone designations while testing of the trains is ongoing, citing rail agency “policy.”

Under federal regulations, however, SMART is “required to cease in the routine sounding of the train horn” on the date the quiet zone is established, Desiree French, a spokeswoman for the Federal Railroad Administration, stated Friday in an email.

French said train engineers are given a “break” from enforcement actions, however, while they get used to the new rules.

SMART Director and Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt, whose district includes Petaluma, expressed support for the city silencing train horns when officials there feel ready to do so.

He noted the city’s rail crossings have been upgraded to qualify for quiet zone designation, including supplemental safety measures designed to make the crossings as safe, or safer, than those where horns routinely sound but where such equipment is not installed.

“Good for Petaluma for moving so quickly,” Rabbitt said.

The city of Santa Rosa has completed the process to establish quiet zones governing 14 rail crossings. However, officials are holding off implementing the restrictions until after testing of the SMART trains is complete, said Rob Sprinkle, the city’s deputy director of traffic.

Sonoma County officials this week plan to submit paperwork for quiet zones at 15 public crossings - including three in Rohnert Park and one in Cotati - from Aviation Boulevard north of Santa Rosa, to Ely Road north of Petaluma. The applications to the Federal Railroad Administration are followed by a 60-day comment period and a 21-day notice before the zone can take effect.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.