This petition is aimed at establishing a new "quiet zone" for trains that pass through the railroad crossings between the Tracy Hills Community and the Ellis Community (and the Southwest portion of Tracy). All trains that currently pass through are required by Federal law to sound their horn a predetermined number of times for safety purposes. However, and as all residents of the Tracy Hills and Ellis Communities know, trains pass through at very early and late hours of the day on a daily basis. Some residents live closer to the railroad crossings than others and have to suffer the ear drum rupturing horns at hours as early as 2:00 a.m. right outside their windows. This negatively impacts the residential aesthetic by creating an unreasonably high noise environmental impact. The process to establish a quiet zone is a lengthy and potentially extremely expensive process that the City of Tracy has to review in consideration for approval. Your signature on this petition will assist in convincing the City Council that a quiet zone is beneficial to the residents of Tracy and worth the associated costs.

If the quiet zone is approved, the City of Tracy will undertake a review and potential development process to improve the railroad crossing infrastructure to support new railroad crossing safety equipment in the absence of train horns. At the time of the creation of this petition, the City of Tracy Engineering Division was in the process of creating a memo to the City Council for consideration of a quiet zone.