To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Public Infrastructure
Staff Name and Phone Number: Johannes J. Hoevertsz, 707-565-2550
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Second
Title:
Title
Continued Establishment of Revised Quiet Zones at Railroad Crossings in Sonoma County
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Approve and authorize the Director of Sonoma County Public Infrastructure to execute a five-year professional services agreement with RailPros, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $249,875 to provide coordination and engineering services to support the continued development and establishment of the County Corridor Quiet Zone.
end
Executive Summary:
Sonoma County Public Infrastructure (SPI) is requesting that the Board approve and authorize the Director of SPI to execute a five-year professional services agreement with RailPros, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $249,875 to continue the County’s efforts to develop and establish the County Corridor Quiet Zone along the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) corridor.
The proposed agreement will provide continued coordination, engineering, and technical services necessary to advance the quiet-zone effort through the remaining stages of development and establishment.
Discussion:
A quiet zone is a section of a rail line at least one-half mile in length that contains one or more consecutive public highway-rail grade crossings at which locomotive horns are not routinely sounded when trains are approaching the crossings. The prohibited use of train horns at quiet zones only applies to trains when approaching and entering crossings and does not include train horn use within passenger stations or rail yards. In addition, train horns may still be sounded in emergency situations or to comply with other railroad or Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rules even within a quiet zone. Quiet zone regulations also do not eliminate the use of locomotive bells at crossings. Therefore, a more appropriate description of a designated quiet zone would be a “reduced train horn area.” Communities wishing to establish quiet zones must work through the appropriate public authority that is responsible for traffic control or law enforcement at the crossings.
To facilitate the establishment of quiet zones relating to the SMART rail line within Sonoma County, on December 16, 2016, the Board authorized the Director of SPI (formerly Transportation and Public Works) to:
1. Submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) to establish joint Quiet Zones at Railroad Crossings within Sonoma County; and
2. Negotiate cooperative agreements with the Cities of Rohnert Park and Cotati regarding joint quiet zone applications.
The NOI was submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration in accordance with Title 49 CFR 222.43 on March 14, 2017, and negotiations for cooperative agreements with the Cities of Rohnert Park and Cotati commenced.
On May 23, 2017, the Board authorized the Director of SPI to execute the negotiated cooperative agreement with the Cities of Rohnert Park and Cotati delegating authority to the County of Sonoma to act as the Lead Authority for the establishment of a joint quiet zone located within multiple adjacent jurisdictions, submit a Notice of Establishment (NOE) after obtaining concurrence from these cities, and install the required supplemental safety measures. The Board also approved the use of $800,000 in unused General Fund contingencies to implement these safety measures. In conjunction with SPI’s quiet-zone efforts, between Fiscal Years 2015-16 and 2017-18, the Board also provided $2.25 million in Redevelopment Area residual funds for railroad crossing safety improvements in the Penngrove area. The Penngrove improvements were completed in 2022, with approximately $619,122 of that funding remaining.
On September 19, 2017, after a competitive selection process, the Board approved and awarded the construction contract for the installation of the railroad quiet zone crossing supplemental safety measures to Ghilotti Bros. Inc. in the amount of $633,600. Construction was completed on November 30, 2018. After construction was successfully completed, the initial Quiet Zone was formally established per FRA regulations. With the inclusion of this quiet zone, there were five established Quiet Zones along the SMART rail line: San Rafael/Novato, Petaluma, Sonoma County (1), Santa Rosa and Sonoma County (2), along the 43 miles and 76 public, private and pedestrian at-grade crossings on the SMART line.
However, even with these individual efforts, approximately six miles along SMART’s route remained without horn silencing efforts. This area included private crossings between the Novato/San Rafael and Petaluma quiet zones. On November 28, 2018, SPI entered into an agreement with the consulting firm Mark Thomas to prepare FRA waiver applications for the private crossings.
On April 6, 2021, the Board authorized the Chair to execute a cooperative agreement with the County of Marin establishing the County of Sonoma as the Lead Authority, allowing the Director of SPI to take further action to establish a joint quiet zone which would include the private crossings discussed previously.
On December 10, 2024, the Board authorized the Director of SPI to:
1. Execute a cooperative agreement with the City of Petaluma for a joint application to establish quiet zones at railroad crossings in Sonoma County associated with SMART operations;
2. Execute a cooperative agreement with the Cities of Novato and San Rafael, consistent with the terms of the agreement with the City of Petaluma, to the extent required for the joint quiet zone; and
3. Execute a professional services agreement with RailPros, Inc. in the amount of $59,974 to perform quiet zone feasibility and risk calculations and prepare draft NOIs and NOEs, as required by the FRA.
On April 28, 2026, the Board authorized and directed the Director of SPI to take all necessary steps to effectuate the Joint Quiet Zone with the Cities of Petaluma, Novato, San Rafael, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park and Cotati, and the Town of Windsor, including modifications of existing quiet zones, required submissions to the FRA, and notification to impacted agencies under existing agreements.
As SPI continues to advance the establishment of the County Corridor Quiet Zone, additional specialized engineering, coordination, and technical services are needed to complete the remaining work. SPI is requesting that the Board authorize the Director of SPI to execute a new five-year professional services agreement with RailPros, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $249,875. The agreement will provide continued technical support necessary to advance SPI’s quiet-zone efforts, including coordination with SMART, FRA, participating jurisdictions, and other stakeholders; evaluation of crossing conditions and safety requirements; development and coordination of required quiet-zone documentation; and assistance with the procedural requirements necessary to establish and implement the County Corridor Quiet Zone.
With the Penngrove railroad crossing safety improvements complete, SPI proposes to use remaining Redevelopment Area residual funds to support the continued implementation of the County Corridor Quiet Zone, including the proposed RailPros agreement and other associated railroad crossing safety and implementation costs.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 2: Invest in the community to enhance resiliency and become carbon neutral by 2030
Objective: Objective 2: Invest in the County’s employee Clean Commute program to promote use of alternate modes of transportation, including bike and carpool incentives, and last mile solutions connecting bus and train stations to County worksites.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
4/28/2026: Board authorized and directed the Director of Sonoma Public Infrastructure to take all necessary steps to effectuate the Joint Quiet Zone, with the Cities of Petaluma, Novato, San, Rafael, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Cotati and the Town of Windsor, including modifications of existing Quiet Zone, submission to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and notification to impacted agencies under existing agreements.
12/10/2024, #47: Board authorized the Director of SPI to execute a cooperative agreement with the City of Petaluma for a joint application to establish quiet zones at railroad crossings in Sonoma County; execute a cooperative agreement with the Cities of Novato and San Rafael, consistent with the terms of the agreement with the City of Petaluma, to the extent the joint quiet zone requires; and execute a professional services agreement with Railpros in the amount of $59,974.00 to perform quiet zone feasibility and risk calculations and prepare draft NOIs and NOEs, as required by the FRA.
04/6/2021, #18: Board authorized the chair to execute a cooperative agreement with the County of Marin establishing the County of Sonoma as the Lead Authority, allowing the Director of SPI to take further action to establish a joint quiet zone.
09/19/2017, #18: Board approved and awarded a construction contract to Ghilotti Bros. to install required supplemental safety measures.
05/23/2017, #20: Board authorized the Director of SPI to execute the negotiated cooperative agreement with the Cities of Rohnert Park and Cotati delegating authority to the County of Sonoma to act as the Lead Authority. The Board also approved the use of $800,000 in unused General Fund contingencies for quiet zone related expenses.
12/13/2016, #66: Board authorized submittal of a Notice of Intent for Quiet Zones at Railroad Crossings within Sonoma County and authorized the Director of SPI (formerly TPW) to negotiate cooperative agreements with the Cities of Rohnert Park and Cotati regarding joint quiet zone applications.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY26-27 Adopted |
FY27-28 Projected |
FY28-29 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
|
General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
$51,975 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Appropriations for the proposed agreement with RailPros are included in the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Roads Administration Adopted Budget (11051-34010101).
On May 23, 2017, the Board allocated $800,000 in unused General Fund contingencies to support SMART Quiet Zone-related expenses. To date, SPI has expended approximately $718,134 of that allocation on the construction of supplemental safety measures, preparation of quiet zone applications and waivers, and establishment of joint quiet zones, leaving a remaining balance of approximately $81,866.
In conjunction with the County’s quiet-zone efforts, between Fiscal Years 2015-16 and 2017-18, the County also provided $2.25 million in Redevelopment Area residual funds for railroad crossing safety improvements in the Penngrove area. The Penngrove improvements were completed in 2022, with approximately $619,122 of that funding remaining.
SPI proposes to use these existing funding balances to support the continued implementation of the County Corridor Quiet Zone, including the proposed $249,875 RailPros agreement and other associated railroad crossing safety and implementation costs. No additional General Fund funding is requested as part of this Board action.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Form of Agreement with Railpros
Exhibit A
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None