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Commissioner’s Message continued

and landscaping projects around the City. Composting the It is not uncommon to hear train horns within a "Quiet
seaweed saves the City more than $180,000 a year in Zone." Based on the Federal Railroad Administration's
disposal costs. The City also reaps savings from using the guidance, trains on the corridor are no longer required to
composted dirt instead of purchasing top soil for planting regularly sound their horns at every railroad crossing.
and landscaping projects. Fort Lauderdale is one of the However, the engineer/conductor still maintains the
few cities in South Florida that implements this type of authority to sound the horn if they are aware of any threats
sustainable and environmentally conscious operation with on or near the track, including pedestrians, vehicles or
regard to how it handles seaweed. Yes! construction workers. When the ongoing signal work is
completed, you can expect the frequency of train horns to
Quiet Zones/Train Horns Update once again be reduced.
We checked with staff at the Broward MPO, Brightline and If you have any questions, please email me at
FEC for details about the recent horn sounds. We were BSorensen@fortlauderdale.gov. Please keep reading for some
informed there is ongoing signal work taking place on announcements and important upcoming meeting dates. RV
segments of the tracks between the Brightline station in Fort
Lauderdale and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
Sincerely,
International Airport. This work is expected to continue
over the next couple of weeks and is primarily being done
Ben Sorensen
at nights and on weekends when trains run less frequently. City Commissioner, District 4
The horns are being used as a safety precaution while the City of Fort Lauderdale
work is being completed.

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