Train horns might finally be silenced in parts of Columbia. How much will it cost?

Longtime efforts to silence train horns throughout Columbia might finally be moving forward.

More than a dozen trains roll through Columbia each day, between the Norfolk Southern and CSX railway companies. Those trains are required to begin sounding their horns 15 to 20 seconds before they reach a street crossing, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

Establishing a quiet zone — where those horns are only used in emergencies — requires the city to install added safety measures at each crossing in the designated zone. Installing those safety measures will cost Columbia millions of dollars.

Columbia City Council since 2017 has been weighing whether to spend those millions on quieting the train horns that blow through Columbia multiple times per day.

For reference, a train horn sounds between 96 and 110 decibels. A rock concert clocks between 120 and 129 decibels.

A committee formed in 2017 previously identified almost a dozen would-be quiet zones across the Columbia area. Bringing each of these zones into compliance with railroad safety regulations would cost the city upwards of $11 million, according to 2018 estimates.

For now, the city is looking to begin work on one of those zones, between Gadsden Street and Beltline Boulevard. There are 14 railroad crossings in that stretch, but Columbia only has the money to silence a portion of the corridor.

The proposal would have the city spend about $1.5 million on safety measures for crossings at Gadsden, Lincoln, Assembly, Main, Pickens, Wheat and Greene streets, as well as a pedestrian crossing at College Street, according to a contract with Norfolk Southern Railway Company, which the council approved at its regular meeting Tuesday.

Councilman Will Brennen Tuesday thanked city staff for “the years and years of going back and forth with the railroad ... giants, and to figure out the maze of communication to make these quiet zones.”

The second phase would include crossings between Hampton Street and Beltline Boulevard, according to a memo to the city manager.

The city currently has about $1.8 million available for the work.

Roughly $400,000 of that are state dollars, $400,000 comes from the city and $1 million comes from USC, according to state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland.

Harpootlian, a Wales Garden resident, has been leading the charge to silence trains in Columbia, describing the noise as a quality of life issue.

“It’s like living in some two-bit, rural, redneck town where the trains wake everybody up all night long,” he told The State in 2017. ”We’re supposed to be a sophisticated city.”

He said he believes he can secure $3 million total for phase one and two, including what the city already has in hand. He said the second phase of the work should also cost about $1.5 million.

As to why it has taken so long for the city to move forward with the plans, Harpootlian said the railroad companies have been difficult to work with.

“I’ve got to say, the railroads are not very helpful. They try to make it as expensive and difficult as possible,” he said.

The State has reached out to a spokesperson for the Norfolk Southern Railway Company for further information.

A timeline for the project has not yet been determined.

North Charleston, Rock Hill, Spartanburg and Charleston all have quiet zones as well, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.