Updated:  10.17.24

PROJECT STATUS

On August 31, 2023, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to find a specialized rail consultant to design the crossing infrastructure for the Citywide Rail Corridor Quiet Zone (CS23B) and to help obtain the necessary outside agency approvals.  On November 15, 2023, City Council awarded a contract to RailPros for Engineering Design of the Citywide Rail Corridor Quiet Zone Improvements. 

Field work and data collection are underway for this project.  In April 2024 equipment was installed at the D Street crossing, E Street Crossing, the Encinitas Train Station, and Leucadia Blvd to assist with the data collection and to help determine pedestrian crossing counts and pedestrian patterns necessary to prepare conceptual crossing plans.  

BACKGROUND

The City is pursing the creation of a comprehensive railroad quiet zone throughout the LOSSAN/NCTD rail corridor that runs through the communities of Leucadia, Old Encinitas, and Cardiff by the Sea, from Leucadia Blvd to Chesterfield Dr.   

The aim of a quiet zone is to reduce noise around pedestrian- and roadway-rail grade crossings for nearby residents and businesses.  A quiet zone is a section of a rail line at least ½ mile long with one or more roadway-rail grade crossings in which train horns are not routinely sounded when trains are approaching a grade crossing. They can be established at any roadway-rail grade crossing that meets federal requirements for quiet zones established by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).  Train horns may still be sounded in emergency situations, when approaching an active construction site, and/or at the discretion of the train operator even in a quiet zone. Quiet zones also do not eliminate the use of train bells at crossings. Thus, quiet zones may be more accurately described as “reduced noise zones”. Because the absence of a train horn increases the risk of a crossing incident, an analysis is done to measure that risk and assess whether additional safety measures may be needed.   

A quiet zone feasibility study was completed in 2019.  At the end of August 2023, the City issued an RFP to solicit a specialized rail consultant to help design the required quiet zone crossing infrastructure and to pursue the required approvals from the FRA and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which have jurisdictional approving authority over the LOSSAN/NCTD corridor.