UPDATED: Train Horns Halted in Medford

Silence has returned to West Medford and the Hillside.

Following a petition from the City of Medford, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail and MBTA, the Federal Railroad Administration agreed to re-instate the city's status as a rail quiet zone, ending nearly a week of constant horns sounding by passing locomotives, said Mayor Michael McGlynn in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.

The last horn blew at 2 p.m., McGlynn said.

The horns have sounded at rail crossings at Canal Street and High Street since Friday, when the Federal Railroad Administration revoked Medford's status as a quiet zone for failing to meet a June 2010 deadline calling for Medford to implement safety standards at the crossings. The new noise led residents to complain to McGlynn, as well as local congressmen and the .

The MBTA agreed to have trains slow to 15 miles per hour near each of the intersection, said FRA spokesman Warren Flatau. That is considered a temporary solution until safety improvements are made on both streets, Flatau said.

"We’re working with the city to address this," he said.

The city placed an order for plastic center line barriers on each side of both intersections Wednesday, McGlynn said. He said he expects those dividers to address the safety requirement. They will take 7 to 10 days to be installed.

McGlynn: "Things Could Have Been Handled Better"

A 2005 federal law required all cities with rail quiet zones to enhance safety through a number of different options by June 2010, or risk having their status revoked.

In 2007, Medford submitted a plan to the FRA to install a gate on High Street that would have likely met safety standards at a cost of about $250,000, McGlynn said.

The city was on track to meet the 2010 deadline at that point, but later found out the project would cost $2 million more than anticipated, McGlynn said.

"That's where we started to get tight," McGlynn said.

About two months ago the City's engineering office went to the FRA asking for more time, but was denied, McGlynn said.

On June 3, the city received notice from the FRA that the ban was revoked. On June 15, McGlynn held a meeting with FRA regional officials and the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail - the owners of the rail. He said he left that meeting believing the city would have two more weeks to get in compliance.

But the horns began to sound Friday, June 17 after the commuter rail company received a letter from the FRA ordering horns to sound.

Since then, McGlynn has been in touch with the an assortment of state officials and organizations, trying to get the horn ban back in place.

"Once things went in motion they (the FRA) have a procedure to reverse it and it can't be altered," McGlynn said. "I wish it never came to that point. There's no question - Things could have been handled better."

Once the center line barriers are installed, they will have to be inspected by the FRA, who may ask that additional safety measures be taken, Flatau said. Trains will not return to normal speeds until safety is addressed, he said.

The barriers, which are about as wide as a painted road line and about an inch in height, have a narrow paddle sticking up about four feet and prevent incoming traffic from making a left turn. The FRA considers them an adequate substitute for horns if they extend 100 feet in each side of the rail crossing.

On Canal Street, the barriers can get close to that far, but on the west-side of High Street they could only go about 12 feet before hitting the intersection with Playstead Road. The barriers cost the city about $25,000, McGlynn said.