BRYAN, TEXAS — It's official, the City of Bryan will begin the first phase of the Downtown Quiet Zone project on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021.
So what is the Downtown Quiet Zone project?
In summary, the project will put an end to over a century of trains blowing their horns as they traveled across Bryan. By adding new medians, signage, and lighting, the City of Bryan hopes to get approval from the Union Pacific Railroad for their quiet zone.
To get approved, the city will have to add these additional safety means to control traffic and prevent drivers from cutting over the tracks. Once accomplished, additional signage will alert train conductors that the Bryan area is safe crossings and they do not need to blow their horns.
Alongside these changes, new sidewalks will also be added to improve the general area.
KRHD 25 News reached out to Rachel Gaddis, a graduate civil engineer with the City of Bryan, and learned that some locals -actually never minded it at all.
"We get both sides" Gaddis shared. "You have local businesses, even city hall, that are excited about the Downtown Quiet Zone project because the train horn blares would interrupt their meetings and they'd have to speak even louder. But then you have locals that are sad, because they feel they're losing a part of Downtown history."
However, according to Gaddis, locals shouldn't expect the horns to stop anytime soon as this project will take years.
At the time of this publication, the City of Bryan does not have a completion date as it pends on approvals from outside agencies as well.
During this construction period, some intersections could be temporarily closed.
For more information on the sequencing of construction, the overall calendar of work, and the schematic designs planned for each intersection, visit the Quiet Zone story map or the official project website.
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