This podcast contains comments from the June 8, 2021 Bryan city council meeting. Speakers include Bryan city engineer Paul Kaspar.

It's been more than five years since the Bryan city council first discussed establishing a railroad quiet zone in and near the downtown area.

This week, the council awarded its first contract to begin modifying city streets at ten railroad crossings.

City engineer Paul Kaspar says by the end of this month, construction will start on building medians on the city streets in front of railroad crossing gates.

The medians are part of the trade off for train horns being silenced.

Weather permitting, the medians will be finished this November.

The locations in this contract are along what UP calls the "Bryan sub" tracks crossing West 32nd, East 29th, East 28th, East 26th, East William Joel Bryan, East 24th, East 23rd, East 22nd, East Martin Luther King Jr., and East 15th.

Meantime, there is no timetable for rebuilding the railroad crossing on Groesbeck Street. Kaspar says Union Pacific (UP) has had the city's request for at least a year and a half.

Kaspar says the city's construction at Groesbeck, which will close the second busiest railroad crossing in Bryan, won't start until UP is ready. That is to keep the street closure to a minimum.