"Extensive upgrades would be required to implement the quiet zone." That is the one-sentence update the City of Pleasanton posted on its current projects page in late October. It reports that the review of railroad crossing upgrades by the California Public Utilities Commission, Union Pacific and the Federal Railroad Administration is now complete.
The update matters because of what the city had expected before. Pleasanton revived its quiet zone effort in 2025 after deciding that inexpensive median islands could do what costly gates once seemed to require. That expectation is what made the project affordable after nearly two decades of shelving it. Now the city's own review calls for "extensive" work, and construction has never had a budget. The next decision about the horns is a financial one, and it goes to the City Council this winter.
The Four Crossings in the Plan
The Union Pacific line runs one set of tracks through Pleasanton. The quiet zone would cover the city's four public crossings on that line. The city's October 2025 request for proposals lists each one with its average daily vehicle traffic:
| Crossing | Average daily traffic |
|---|---|
| Santa Rita Road | 18,600 vehicles |
| St. Mary's Street | 5,100 vehicles |
| Rose Avenue | 1,400 vehicles |
| West Angela Street | 700 vehicles |
The heaviest crossing carries about 26 times the traffic of the lightest. That gap is part of why a quiet zone isn't one design repeated four times. Each crossing gets evaluated on its own risk.
The city's proposal request gives the train traffic as three to four Union Pacific freight trains on a typical day. The Altamont Corridor Express adds eight more on weekdays, four westbound in the morning and four eastbound in the afternoon and evening. ACE's posted schedule sets the Pleasanton times as follows:
- Westbound mornings: 5:23, 6:48, 7:53 and 8:45 a.m.
- Eastbound afternoons and evenings: 3:08, 4:28, 5:28 and 6:28 p.m.
The commuter trains run on a timetable. The freight trains are the less predictable share of the noise. In June 2025, Pleasanton Weekly reported that residents told the council the horns were sounding around the clock.
Twenty Years of the Same Price Problem
Federal rules have allowed quiet zones since 2006, and the city's 2006 General Plan noted the option that same year. Between 2007 and 2017, city staff priced the project several times and reached the same answer each time: quad gates at all four crossings. Quad gates block both sides of the road, so drivers can't go around a lowered arm. Staff estimated each upgrade at about $500,000, or $2 million for all four. According to the city's proposal request, successive councils found that too expensive, and the review went no further.
The neighbors to the west moved first. ACE reports that the Sunol Quiet Zone was established on June 30, 2018, on the same corridor that runs through Niles Canyon. Further along the line, Fremont lists established quiet zones at Stevenson Boulevard and at Nursery Avenue in Niles on its quiet zone program page.
The Cheaper Answer That Revived the Project
The design behind Pleasanton's current effort dates to 2018. That year ACE was weighing a service expansion and looked into a Pleasanton quiet zone as part of it. ACE's consultant concluded the zone could work without quad gates, using median islands at each of the four crossings. ACE then dropped the expansion before taking the plan to Union Pacific or the FRA, and the quiet zone work stopped.
In January 2025, city staff checked that approach again after a council request. Their preliminary review found the ACE consultant's approach "was accurate" and said a quiet zone "may be established at a significantly lower cost than the previous $2 million estimate." Staff also noted that the data in the FRA's risk calculator was several years old and would need updating.
The council acted quickly after that. Residents including Jim Lehrman spoke to the council in 2025 about the horn noise. On August 19, 2025, the council unanimously approved a new capital project, CIP 26510. It moved $175,000 from Bernal Community Park synthetic-field funds into quiet zone design. On December 16, 2025, Pleasanton Weekly reported that the council unanimously hired Kimley-Horn and Associates under an agreement capped at $168,858, on a 21-month consultant schedule.
That money covered design. The city's proposal request is explicit on this point. Because the scope of the required safety measures was unknown, "construction funding has not been allocated."
What "Extensive" Does to the Math
In October, a preview of the November meeting on PleasantonCA.city described the city's expectation as "medians or comparable designs costing roughly a tenth" of the old $2 million estimate. The same article set out the condition attached to that number: "If the consultant finds more is needed, the project would need more money and another council approval."
The city's update calls the required work "extensive." The project is now at the decision point that condition described. The review that federal, state and railroad officials had to complete is done. What remains is pricing the scope it produced and deciding whether to fund it.
For a sense of scale, quad gates at all four crossings were estimated at roughly $2 million when staff priced them. Median islands were expected to cost about a tenth of that. The city hasn't said where the final scope falls between those figures. Both numbers describe very different council conversations, and the design money already spent doesn't answer either one.
The safety record at the crossings is part of what any design has to address. The proposal request notes a 2021 collision at the St. Mary's Street crossing. A vehicle stopped behind the gate arm was pushed onto the tracks by the car behind it and was struck by a train. No collisions occurred at the other three crossings in the five years before the request.
What a Quiet Zone Changes, and What It Leaves Alone
The FRA's train horn rule sets the sound now heard at each Pleasanton crossing. The pattern is two long blasts, one short and one long. It normally starts 15 to 20 seconds before a train reaches a public crossing, at 96 to 110 decibels.
Once a quiet zone is established, that routine sequence stops. Horns don't disappear entirely. Under the same FRA rule, engineers can still sound them in emergencies or when other federal rules or railroad operating rules call for it. A quiet zone addresses the warning sounded at the four crossings, and freight and ACE service keep running on the same tracks.
The Next Decision Point
The city scheduled a Railroad Quiet Zone Neighborhood Meeting for Monday, November 2, at the Pleasanton Public Library, 400 Old Bernal Avenue. Its stated purpose was to review the recommended improvements and discuss next steps. Here is how the sequence runs from that meeting:
- Staff take the recommended changes and the public input from the meeting to the City Council and ask for direction in December 2026 or January 2027.
- Kimley-Horn's work continues through final design and permitting, which require Union Pacific and FRA approval. Construction happens under a separate contract.
- Construction funding has to be found. The consultant's scope includes helping the city identify that money.
- The crossings are built out and the zone is activated. The city estimates the full process at about two years to design, review, construct and activate.
As of December 2025, the city's best-case estimate had construction running from January to September 2027, depending on how quickly Union Pacific, ACE and the FRA signed off. That forecast was made before the review found that extensive upgrades would be required. The council's direction this winter will set the real calendar.
Jim Lehrman, one of the residents who brought the issue to the council, told The Independent that the work would take "the better part of two years" and would need railroad and federal approvals. He said he expected it to improve life downtown, as PleasantonCA.city recounted in its preview. The city's current projects page is where updates have been posted, and the council agendas in December and January are where the funding decision will appear.
If the tracks near Santa Rita Road, St. Mary's Street, Rose Avenue or West Angela Street are part of your daily routine, I'm glad to talk through how this project moves through the council this winter and what each step means for downtown. Emon Komeily follows these decisions closely. Let's Connect.
