Since July, the BNSF crossing at Longs Peak Avenue has had everything a quiet zone requires. It has new gates and flashers, raised medians, channelization devices, upgraded pedestrian crossings, fencing and new roadwork. Trains roll through it, and the horns still blow. The same is true at 3rd Avenue, 9th Avenue and 17th Avenue, the other three crossings the city finished in its first construction group.
Nothing is broken. Longmont's quiet arrives by cluster, one stretch of track at a time, and each stretch moves at the pace of its slowest crossing plus a federal approval step. That one rule explains the whole schedule. It explains why a finished crossing near you can stay loud for another year, why two crossings will go quiet by disappearing, and why the crossings around the new 1st & Main Transit Station are near the end of the line.
A finished crossing is only half the process
The city is direct about this on its quiet zones page: building the improvements "does not automatically create a Quiet Zone." Once construction wraps, Longmont files a request with the Federal Railroad Administration, and the zone takes effect only if the FRA approves it. The city's own example uses the crossings people on the east side of downtown hear most. When Longs Peak is finished, horns may keep sounding at 6th Avenue until that crossing is done too.
The scale explains why this matters. Up to 17 trains a day run through Longmont on the BNSF line, and federal rules require a horn at every public crossing. The city has split its 17 crossings into seven potential quiet zones along a corridor that will eventually run from Hover Street to State Highway 66.
This has been in the works for a long time. By a September 2018 study session, City Council had directed staff to set aside $380,000 for analysis, design and public engagement, according to the Longmont Leader. The FRA selected Longmont's Railroad Crossing Safety Improvement Project for up to $4 million in its FY19 grant round, which was announced in early 2020. The city counts 14 of its 17 crossings in the grant project, though the FRA's selection listing described 15. The remaining crossings are funded by the city's voter-approved ¾-cent Street Fund sales and use tax, and the work at Emery Street is already done. Construction started in May 2025.
The order the horns are expected to stop
Here is the city's current schedule, crossing by crossing. Each date is a city projection that depends on FRA approval.
| Crossing | What's being built | Construction | Routine horns expected to stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5th Avenue/Atwood Street | Permanent closure | Group 2, late summer 2026 to early 2027 | Early 2027 |
| Terry Street/1st Avenue | Permanent closure | Group 2 | Early 2027 |
| 17th Avenue | Gates, flashers, medians | Group 1, complete July 2026 | Early 2027 |
| 3rd Avenue, Longs Peak Avenue, 9th Avenue | Gates, flashers, medians | Group 1, complete July 2026 | Summer 2027 |
| 4th Avenue and 6th Avenue at Atwood | Four-quadrant gates | Group 2 | Summer 2027 |
| 21st Avenue | Two-quadrant gate with median | Group 2 | Summer 2027 |
| Main Street, Coffman Street, Mountain View Avenue | To be determined | Group 3, spring to fall 2027 | Spring 2028 |
| Emery Street/1st Avenue | Already improved | Done | Spring 2028 |
| State Highway 66, Hover Street | To be determined | Group 4, summer to winter 2027 | Summer 2028 |
The table shows how clustering works. 3rd Avenue and Longs Peak were finished in July 2026, yet their horns aren't expected to stop until summer 2027. That puts them on the same date as 4th and 6th, the Atwood crossings between them, which are under construction now. Emery Street has been finished for even longer, and it's grouped with Main, Coffman and Mountain View for spring 2028.
Some of these dates have already moved. In July, the city expected horns to stop at 17th Avenue in fall 2026. The current corridor schedule says early 2027. The Group 2 project page still lists "Winter 2026" for 5th Avenue and Terry Street, while the city's Oct. 5 release on Terry says early 2027. Treat every season in the table as a target that can slip.
Two crossings go quiet by disappearing
The fastest way to stop a horn is to remove the crossing. The city picked 5th Avenue/Atwood and Terry Street/1st Avenue for permanent closure based on traffic volume, how close they sit to other crossings, and how practical other safety measures would be.
At Terry Street, crews started Oct. 8 on a new access road linking the north end of Terry to Coffman Street. Once it opens, the rail crossing closes for good to vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, and businesses north of the tracks will come and go by way of Coffman. Even with the crossing gone, horns continue until the FRA updates its records and schedules. The city expects that in early 2027.
5th Avenue works the other way around. It stays open as the detour while 4th and 6th are rebuilt. After that work wraps, expected in mid-November, 5th Avenue closes permanently and east-west traffic shifts to 4th or 6th.
This fall's closures, in order
The Group 2 project page was updated Oct. 8 and lays out the next several weeks:
- From Oct. 8, for about three weeks: short, intermittent lane closures on 4th and 6th avenues at the tracks, with flaggers. One-way traffic has been restored on Atwood Street on either side of the tracks between 3rd Avenue and Longs Peak.
- Week of Oct. 12: the Terry Street crossing closes permanently once the Coffman access road opens. The north lane of 1st Avenue closes for one day, with flaggers running both directions through the south lane. Residents of the mobile home park on 1st Avenue can still turn east or west with flagger help.
- Oct. 13: 21st Avenue reopens for about five weeks.
- Early November: a short full closure at 4th and 6th, with traffic detoured to 5th Avenue and Longs Peak.
- Mid-November: 5th Avenue closes permanently, and 21st Avenue closes again for about three weeks. The 21st Avenue detour uses Collyer Street, 17th Avenue and Alpine Street.
Pedestrians are already detouring. The tracks are closed to foot traffic at 4th and 6th, so walkers use 3rd, 5th or Longs Peak. On the south side of downtown, there's no pedestrian access on 1st Avenue between the S. Pratt Parkway bridge and Main Street. The city points people to the S. Pratt Parkway sidewalk and Boston Avenue instead. Regular work hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, with some work running until 7 p.m. and on weekends when needed.
Why the crossings near 1st & Main come late
Main Street, Coffman Street and Mountain View Avenue make up Group 3, with construction planned for spring through fall 2027. Group 1 took about a year to go from finished construction to expected quiet. Group 3 follows the same pattern: built by fall 2027, with horns expected to stop in spring 2028.
Those crossings also sit beside the biggest construction site downtown has seen in years. On Oct. 9, Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring and Colorado Department of Transportation officials broke ground on the 1st & Main Transit Station, southwest of First Avenue and Main Street. The Times-Call reports that the $70 million project is a five-story facility with 10 bus bays, about 700 parking spaces and bicycle storage, plus a Coffman Street extension connecting First Avenue to Boston Avenue. The target for finishing it is the end of 2027. City Manager Harold Dominguez said staff would coordinate the garage, the street extension, railroad quiet zones, Boston Avenue connections and planned multifamily housing to limit traffic and other disruption.
The budget documents connect the two projects as well. The city's proposed 2027–2031 capital plan puts the quiet-zone work at Coffman under the quiet zones project. Pedestrian and bike work on Coffman is budgeted separately, under the transit station area project. The city's transit station project page schedules garage construction from October 2026 through December 2027 and Coffman Street infrastructure from summer 2026 through summer 2027. Neither schedule comes with a lane-by-lane closure plan in the city materials published so far.
What "quiet" will still sound like
A designated quiet zone won't be silent. Train operators can still sound the horn for a hazard on the tracks, such as a person or an animal. The bells on top of the gate poles will keep ringing because they warn pedestrians and cyclists.
The equipment varies by crossing. Every crossing gets flashing lights and gates with constant-warning-time devices and power-out indicators. 4th and 6th Avenue are getting four-quadrant gates, which block every lane on both sides of the tracks so drivers can't weave around a lowered arm. The city says this design has been shown to cut collisions at grade crossings by up to 98 percent. 21st Avenue is getting a standard two-quadrant gate with a median to stop the same move.
People along Atwood have waited a long time for this. Under the current schedule, the Atwood stretch of track is expected to go quiet in summer 2027. Questions about a specific crossing go to the project hotline at 720-526-2044 or [email protected].
Changes like these affect daily life on a block, and they come up when buyers walk a home near the tracks. Jane Kraemer follows these projects crossing by crossing, from today's construction through the expected 2028 dates. If you're weighing a sale or purchase near the BNSF line, schedule your free market consultation, and we'll go over where the nearest crossing stands and what the city's schedule says for it.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
