City signs $3.5M quiet zone pacts

MUNCIE – City officials on Wednesday approved about $3.5 million in contracts with two railroad companies for the city’s downtown quiet zone project.

The city Board of Works and Public Safety approved construction agreements between the city and Norfolk & Southern Railway and CSX, the railroad companies that operate on tracks that run across the city and pass the southern edge of downtown.

The quiet zone project is intended to lessen the noise from train horns, particularly in the area around the under-construction Courtyard by Marriott hotel.

Mayor Dennis Tyler previously earmarked $5 million in proceeds from city borrowing for the quiet zone project. Other likely city expenses include beautification of streets that will dead-end where crossings are closed.

City engineering consultant Dick Weigel presented the contracts Wednesday, noting that the contract with Norfolk & Southern was for about $2 million while the contract with CSX was about $1.5 million.

The agreements will cover the cost of improvements to several crossings and the closing of several others, making it less necessary for trains to sound horns in the heart of downtown.

Tyler has said he believes the quiet zone work — which must still be approved by the Federal Railroad Administration — can be completed by the projected Dec. 1 opening of the new six-story, 150-room hotel, which is under construction at the end of High Street downtown adjacent to a new 400-space city parking garage. Both will serve the Horizon Convention Center.

The total cost of the hotel, garage and quiet zone project has been estimated at $40 million, funded by city, state and private sources.

The hotel will also be a hospitality industry teaching institute for disabled people who want to enter the industry.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Twitter: @keithroysdon