The Story: Safety concerns have arisen after inspections found railroad crossings in Utah suffered from multiple deficiencies, forcing trains to their sound horns each time they come to a crossing, even in the middle of the night.
Days after "Quiet Zones" were suspended across northern Utah due to deficiencies found at dozens of railroad crossings between Ogden and Provo, FOX 13 News has learned where the deficient crossings are located and why they have been deemed unsafe.
On Tuesday, the Utah Transit Authority and Union Pacific released a joint statement saying they would immediately implement the new safety measure from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regarding the "Quiet Zones."
Trains are now required to sound their horns at all crossings no matter the time of day or night.
The FRA stated that multiple issues put the crossings into non-compliance and that the issues have been known about for years. Some of the deficiencies include medians not being long enough and faded signs.
FRA officials state that the issues were first logged in September 2021 during inspections of the crossings. Both the City of Woods Cross and Lehi were notified of the crossings' deficiencies at that time. Between then and April of 2024, FRA and city officials communicated several times about bringing the quiet zones back into compliance ahead of the FRA reinspections in April 2024.
However, after finding deficiencies similar to those identified in 2021, the FRA requested a 30-day remedial action plan from the cities. They were still not addressed however by September of this year which is when the FRA decided to temporarily suspend the quiet zones in, "the best interest of public safety."
Accidents involving injuries and fatalities have been reported since the "Quiet Zones" were established in 2008, which brought attention to the need for the zones to meet regulations.
Accident reports show that Woods Cross crossings had 48 total accidents, while those in Lehi City accounted for 29 incidents, for a total of 77 accidents in the past 16 years.
According to an FRA spokesperson, letters were sent to officials in both Woods Cross and Lehi City informing them of the conditional suspensions.
As those cities are the designated managers for the "Quiet Zones," they are responsible for coordinating with other localities that fall under the zones to ensure supplementary safety measures meet regulations.
Of the issues of non-compliance found during inspections the FRA states they include:
- Many of the medians or channelization devices for the grade crossings under the quiet zone did not extend at least 60 feet or 100 feet from the crossing game arm as the situation requires, nor did the medians meet the required height of six inches when measured vertically where the gate arm meets the medians
- Grade Crossing Advance Warning signs for both directions of travel were faded and need to be replaced
- NO TRAIN HORN signs for both directions of travel did not meet the size requirements of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
- Pavement markings and median paint need to be refreshed
- Grade crossings at pedestrian stations were not included in the crossing inventory for the quiet zone that the locality is required to submit to the FRA
The FRA states that the deficiencies were identified during inspections conducted over the past several years and were previously reported to local officials about the need for remediation.
For the quiet zones to be reinstated, city officials will have to undertake the necessary maintenance to correct the deficiencies identified. The cities will then need to submit documentation to show the work has been completed.
An official with Lehi City said they are ready to go forward with repairs as soon as they receive the go-ahead from Union Pacific, with hopes of starting work on Oct. 17.