MELBOURNE, Fla. – Melbourne’s mayor says there’s more work yet to be done — and paid for — before the city can be designated a “quiet zone” amid near-continuous train horns.
Mayor Paul Alfrey said on social media that the city would be in a better position to apply for a quiet zone designation once certain upgrades were made to Melbourne’s 18 train crossings, as he says is required by federal law. The city will pursue federal grants with the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization to complete said upgrades, the post states.
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“Also per Federal law, horns must blow before crossings. Since our City of Melbourne has the most crossings in Brevard County, our residents hear nearly a continuous train horn dozens of times daily,” Alfrey said in the post. “As stated previously we did not have a choice with Brightline but we do with excessive train horn noise.”
Other quiet zones have already been designated in Central Florida, such as those near SunRail lines in Orange and Osceola counties.
Brightline opened its Orlando station in September 2023, launching its first trains from Orlando and Miami.
Before year’s end, Brightline announced it was increasing it routes to 32 trains daily, at which time Melbourne city staff were already in contact with with the Space Coast TPO and Federal Railroad Administration in response to numerous complaints.
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