ENCINITAS Installing a quieter train-alert system at the four Encinitas crossings is a top priority for 2011, the Encinitas City Council decided in a goal-setting meeting Tuesday.
The new technology, known as a wayside horn, entails directionally aimed train horns placed at the crossing, alerting only those nearby of a locomotive's impending arrival.
If a wayside horn is installed, a train conductor would then only blast the train's much louder, multidirectional horn in emergency situations.
Federal law requires a wayside horn to reach 92 decibels 100 feet from a crossing. Without one, train conductors generally must begin sounding their horns, with levels between 96 and 110 decibels, at least 15 to 20 seconds before reaching the crossing.
Decibels increase exponentially from one to the next. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, a lawn mower registers at 90 decibels, while a jet plane taking off comes out at 120 decibels.
North County Transit District, which operates the tracks, has never installed a wayside horn before. It is currently completing design work on a proposed wayside horn for Del Mar's lone Coast Boulevard crossing.
The original cost estimate for Del Mar was $276,770. However, NCTD is expected to release a revised cost within the next ten days after completing its design.