Train-Heavy Claremore Planning 'Quiet Zone' By End Of Year

Living near train tracks can get loud with the horns blaring all day and night, but a plan is in the works in Claremore to silence the noise and turn the city into a quiet zone.

If all goes as planned, the city could be much quieter by the end of this year.

For those who live right by the tracks, like Kiefer Cruse, it means there's hope they'll finally get some relief.

Cruse lives really close to one of Claremore's train tracks.

"Maybe 40, 50 yards," he said.

He also has a 7-year-old, 4-year-old, and 2-year-old.

“Wakes my kids up every night; about two or three times a night," he said.

But the sound of a train horn will soon be a distant memory once the city's quiet zone plan is put in action.

City Manager Jim Thomas said trains will no longer be allowed to honk their horns in the quiet zone unless there’s a safety concern.

"Ultimately, our goal is, 99.9 percent of the time there will be no more horn-blowing, and it will just pass through the community," Thomas said.

There are a few requirements Claremore must meet before that can happen.

For one, all 18 of the city's railroad crossings will have to have barriers that prevent drivers from going around the gates.

The city said it's looked into solutions in past years but they were always too expensive - millions of dollars. This plan is only expected to cost $200,000 or $300,000.

Thomas said, "We'll get back to the days when you can hear the buffalo roaming in Claremore, Oklahoma."

For the people of Claremore who are fed up with the noise, like Cody Edwards, the silence will be music to their ears.

"They'll do it between intersections and it's like, ‘We already know you're in town from all the rumbling,’" he said.

As for the train traffic problem, the City of Claremore does have plans to build an overpass over the next eight to ten years.