Martinez Railroad Quiet Zone Study Prepared for: City of Martinez Prepared by: February 10, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1: Introduction .......................................................................... 1 Section 2: Existing Conditions .................................................................. 4 Population and Employment ............................................................................ 4 Land Use .................................................................................................... 4 Rail Operations in Martinez.............................................................................. 6 Freight Operations ................................................................................................ 6 Passenger Operations - Amtrak ................................................................................. 7 At-Grade Crossings Considered for a Quiet Zone..................................................... 9 Ferry Street ....................................................................................................... 12 Berrellessa Street ................................................................................................ 14 Pedestrian / Bicycle Traffic ............................................................................15 Railroad Traffic...........................................................................................16 Section 3: Future Conditions ................................................................. 17 Future Population and Employment...................................................................17 Future Land Use ..........................................................................................17 Future Railroad Operations.............................................................................18 Freight Operations ............................................................................................... 18 Passenger Operations – Amtrak ................................................................................ 18 Future Traffic Conditions at Crossings................................................................19 Section 4: Performance of the Quiet Zone ................................................ 20 Measurements of Risk ...................................................................................20 Quiet Zone Safety Measures ............................................................................21 Supplementary Safety Measures (SSMs)....................................................................... 21 Alternative Safety Measures (ASMs) ........................................................................... 21 Use of Approved Safety Measures ............................................................................. 21 Application of the Quiet Zone Calculator ............................................................22 Quiet Zone Concepts ....................................................................................24 Concept 1.......................................................................................................... 24 Concept 2.......................................................................................................... 24 Concept 3.......................................................................................................... 25 Quiet Zone Concepts under Existing and Future Conditions ......................................25 Conceptual Cost Estimates .............................................................................27 MARTINEZ RAILROAD QUIET ZONE STUDY 104030 Page i Ongoing Maintenance Costs .................................................................................... 27 Wayside Horns ............................................................................................28 Horn Blowing in Martinez with a Quiet Zone ........................................................29 Other Crossing Improvements ..........................................................................35 Section 5: Evaluation and Next Steps ....................................................... 36 Evaluation of Alternatives ..............................................................................36 Overall Safety..................................................................................................... 36 Pedestrian Safety ................................................................................................ 37 Capital Cost ....................................................................................................... 37 Local Impact ...................................................................................................... 37 FRA Review Requirements ...................................................................................... 38 Summary Evaluation .....................................................................................38 Next Steps .................................................................................................38 Appendices Appendix A: New Quiet Zone Flow Chart Appendix B: At-Grade Crossing Inventory MARTINEZ RAILROAD QUIET ZONE STUDY 104030 Page ii List of Tables Table 1: Existing Freight Train Operations Summary .................................................. 6 Table 2: Passenger Train Operations Summary ......................................................... 7 Table 3: Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic at the Ferry Street Grade Crossing ......................15 Table 4: Results of the Quiet Zone Calculator without Improvements.............................23 Table 5: Preliminary Screening of SSMs .................................................................24 Table 6: Results of the Quiet Zone Calculator – Concept 1 ..........................................26 Table 7: Results of the Quiet Zone Calculator – Concept 2 ..........................................26 Table 8: Results of the Quiet Zone Calculator – Concept 3 ..........................................26 Table 9: Conceptual Cost Estimates .....................................................................28 Table 10: Evaluation of the Quiet Zone Concepts .....................................................36 List of Figures Figure 1: Project Location.................................................................................. 3 Figure 2: Existing Land Use/Zoning ....................................................................... 5 Figure 3: Martinez Intermodal Station.................................................................... 8 Figure 4: Martinez Intermodal Station.................................................................... 8 Figure 5: Station Platform.................................................................................. 8 Figure 6: Waiting Area ...................................................................................... 8 Figure 7: Ticket Counter.................................................................................... 8 Figure 8: Historic Martinez Station........................................................................ 8 Figure 9: Aerial Photo of the Study Crossings ..........................................................10 Figure 10: Grade Crossing Diagram ......................................................................11 Figure 11: Quiet Zone Improvements – Concept 1.....................................................30 Figure 12: Quiet Zone Improvements – Concept 2.....................................................31 Figure 13: Quiet Zone Improvements – Concept 3.....................................................32 Figure 14: Train Horns vs. Wayside Horns at Ferry Street............................................33 Figure 15: Train Horns vs. Wayside Horns at Berrellessa Street.....................................34 Figure 16: Before (left) and After Pedestrian Improvements in Burlingame ......................35 MARTINEZ RAILROAD QUIET ZONE STUDY 104030 Page iii SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION This introductory section includes the study purpose and a summary of the Quiet Zone process, and describes the contents of this study. The purpose of the Martinez Railroad Quiet Zone Study is to explore the potential for implementation of a Quiet Zone on the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) corridor through the City of Martinez. A railroad Quiet Zone is an area where locomotive engineers are not required to sound train warning horns as they approach an at-grade crossing. There are two public at-grade highway-rail crossings on the UP corridor in Martinez that are being considered for a Quiet Zone. These are at Ferry Street and Berrellessa Street, which cross the UP’s Martinez Subdivision in Downtown Martinez. The study area is shown in Figure 1. The UP tracks are used daily by both passenger and freight trains, with passenger trains more numerous than freight trains. According to federal regulations, engineers of all these trains must sound their train horns as they approach at-grade crossings with roadways.1 The horn sounding is a safety measure, to alert motorists and pedestrians intending to cross the tracks that a train is approaching. In the future, the number of trains operating on this corridor is likely to increase, resulting in a greater frequency in train horn soundings. The implementation of a Quiet Zone for these crossing in Martinez would reduce the existing and future noise impacts from train horn soundings. A Quiet Zone may be established by the public authority (city,