New Braunfels, TX) -- Phase 1 of the Railroad Quiet Zone construction project begins today. Approved by New Braunfels City Council in 2009, the project will add new safety measures at railroad crossings throughout the city, which must be in place before train engineers are told to not blow their horns as they travel through New Braunfels.

Phase 1 of this project includes roadway improvements leading up to an including the railroad crossings along the Union Pacific Railroad Mainline #1 (which runs from Bridge Street to Church Hill Drive), and along the Union Pacific Mainline #2 (which runs from Hinman Island Drive to Rock Street).

The construction that’s getting underway today will include the milling of those streets, plus the reconstruction of the intersection at Hinman Island Drive and Elizabeth Avenue, and the relocation of the Landa Park Golf Course golf cart path.

By mid-February through the end of March the project will move along the rail lines with construction happening at those crossings along the way. Paving work is scheduled to begin in mid-March, and completion of Phase 1 of this project is expected by May of this year.

It will still take until July, though, before the Federal Railroad Administration approves the Quiet Zone, and train horns through those areas will cease.

Here's a full list of the crossings that will be covered by Phase 1 of this project:

Quiet Zone 1 - UPRR Mainline  No. 1
W. Bridge Street
W. Mill Street
W. San Antonio Street
W. Coll Street
W. Jahn Street
Elm Street
Comal Avenue
Rusk Street
Old Austin Road/Church Hill Drive

Quiet Zone 2 - UPRR Mainline No. 2
Hinman Island Drive
Golf Cart Path
W. Torrey Street
N. Union Avenue
N. Houston Avenue
N. Central Avenue
Lakeview Boulevard
Private Crossing Rock Street

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