Leaders from two cities in Brevard County say they are considering implementing "quiet zones" at Brightline crossings in their jurisdictions.

What You Need To Know

  •  City leaders in Melbourne and Palm Bay are looking into implementing "quiet zones" around Brightline crossings in their jurisdictions

  •  Melbourne has the largest number of crossings of the four municipalities the rail service runs through with 16

  • The quiet zones would restrict the trains' ability to blow their horns as they pass

Of the four municipalities in the county where the trains pass through, Melbourne has the most crossings at 16.

Now Melbourne and Palm Bay leaders are exploring what they can do in the zones to cut down on noise from the high speed passenger trains, which come through 32 times each day.

Eula and Clovis Bass have lived in their Melbourne home for more than 60 years.

They enjoy gardening and keeping up their backyard, but right behind their home are railroad tracks that spilt the city north and south.

And since Brightline began passenger service from Orlando to south Florida, they say even more trains use the tracks than before. Eula said it’s something they are getting used to.

“I try and look at them through the windows and see if anyone is sitting in them,” she said.

It's the approaching train horns that are the problem, Clovis said.

“It has a reason, but if the crossarms are working I don’t see the need for it,” he said.

Melbourne and Palm Bay are looking into quiet zones at their crossings, restricting locomotive horn sounding as they pass.

They must be at least a 1/2 mile in length, and have at least one public highway railway crossing.

“And so overall, we meet all the requirements," Palm Bay Public Works Director Frank Watanabe told city council at a recent workshop. "I’ve already talked and met with our federal inspector. He says that we met those qualifications. I’ve already ran what’s called a quiet zone calculator, so all we do then is if we want to move forward, do the notice and start the process.” 

Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey said he intends to "continue to pursue quiet zones — we are in the process of upgrades to our railroad crossings and once those are complete, which are a requirement for a quiet zone, we’ll continue to move forward. This is a quality of life for many of our residents.’

He said the upgrades would be paid for with a federal grant.

The cities will have to show the safety measures in place that would make horns unnecessary.

In a quiet zone, engineers aren’t legally bound to sound the horn, but may exercise discretion during emergency situations, like when a vehicle or person is on the tracks.

Several other south Florida cities have already implemented quiet zones, with others looking into the possibility.