The town of Argyle will establish a railroad Quiet Zone for all five railroad crossings in the town.
During the special Town Council meeting on Monday, the Argyle Town Council received a presentation on establishing a railroad Quiet Zone throughout the town. In 2017, the town hired the engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, to determine feasibility of making the crossings quiet zones, according to a news release from the town. Most of the railroad crossings require physical safety improvements to compensate for the loss of the train horn as a warning device.
The town announced Tuesday that LAN has determined that it is feasible for the town, in conjunction with the Texas Department of Transportation’s Hwy 377 widening project, to improve all five crossings to qualify for the Quiet Zone. The improvements to these five crossings could have cost the Town up to $5 million in construction costs, but making them during the Hwy 377 widening project is a much more cost-effective alternative, with an estimated construction cost of less than $50,000 at this time.
Argyle Town Council will authorize LAN to file a Notice of Intent with the Federal Railroad Administration to establish the Quiet Zone. This phase of the project should take up to nine months. The final phase to establish the Quiet Zone is the construction of the improvements. Because those improvements will be tied to the Hwy 377 widening project, they will not be completed until 2024 or later, according to the town.
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