We announced last February that Claremore is working to become a Quiet Zone for the railroads. The Quiet Zone is an agreement between the City of Claremore, the railroads, and the federal government that says trains will not blow their horns in certain areas of the city. In order to proceed, there are certain safety measures that must be implemented.
The city has purchased the necessary equipment and provided training to their workers to construct the need safety measures at the identified crossings throughout Claremore. You may have noticed the demolition of two houses at Cherokee and 6th St., as well as the closing of the 7th St. crossing. These are all part of the process.
The 7th St. crossing work will be completed within 60 days, but it will be permanently closed. Most of the work on the city side is simple and will not take more than a couple of months. What will take time is the work that the railroads need to complete.
The railroad is responsible for the closure of 7th St. and the addition of a Constant Warning at the 6th St. crossing. Both of these projects will take a few months to complete once they are officially approved. Paperwork is currently being finalized to get the projects complete, but again, it will take a few months for them to get started.
It is difficult to anticipate how long government projects will take. This project includes BNSF, Union Pacific, the federal government, the state government, and the City of Claremore. We hear complaints of people saying that the city is not moving fast enough. However, please remember there are two other levels of government and two railroads involved in this project. The city is working as quickly as possible.
-Information provided by Mayor Bill Flanagan and the City of Claremore
