Resident raises concerns over railway noise in Downtown Oswego

The Village discussed a “quiet zone” for downtown Oswego’s railroad back in 2021. (Adobe Stock Photo)

During the public forum segment of the September 15 Village Board meeting, an Oswego resident raised concerns over railway noise in downtown Oswego.

According to regular meeting minutes, William Leleika asked about the progress of a railway quiet zone. Leleika said he has lived in Oswego since 2003 and stated that he lives at the Reserve at Hudson Crossing. Leleika said he wakes up at night to the sounds of train horns.

The conversation about a quiet zone in Oswego dates back to April of 2021 when the Village sought to establish a quiet zone through downtown Oswego from Benton Street to the Oswegoland Park District Civic Center. The quiet zone would have prevented a train engineer from sounding their horn, unless there was a safety hazard.

A 2021 Chicago Tribune article stated that, at the time, an engineering firm estimated that it would cost the Village approximately $1.2 million in improvements to equip the area to meet the standards of the Federal Railroad Administration.

According to Union Pacific, the designated rail corridor must be at least one-half mile long and include one or more consecutive public grade crossings. In addition, every public crossing “must feature standard active warning infrastructure, including flashing lights, gates, constant warning time train detection circuitry, and power-out indicators visible to train crews.

In addition, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Village would have needed to work with several organizations, including the Federal Railroad Commission, the Illinois Commerce Commission, Illinois Department of Transportation and Kendall County, and private crossing owners.

The meeting minutes said that Village Administrator Dan Di Santo provided Leleika with a business card and said that he could talk with Leleika at a later time, as questions and answers are not allowed during the public forum.