Following you will see 3 sets of results from the Federal Railroad Administration's Quiet Zone Calculator. What this calculator does is allow you to input proposed crossing improvements or closings, and then see the resulting risk calculations.
In Example. 1, we assumed that the medians pictured on the site would be installed on all of our 9 crossings in the City of Fairfield. As you can see, this set of assumptions gives us a Quiet Zone Risk Index of 8,915.44. You will also see that the estimated cost is $117,000, and that this quiet zone would be automatically approved.
The second scenario involves installing medians on all but 2 crossings, and then closing those crossings permanently. This gives us a Quiet Zone Risk Index of 7,446.97 and a total cost of $91,000, not including payments from the BNSF for closing the 2 crossings.
The final scenario assumes that we make no improvements at all to the 3rd St. crossing. This gives a Quiet Zone Risk Index of 11,265.15, much higher but still below the Nationwide Significant Risk Threshold.
It is important not to underestimate the challenges to getting community agreement on a plan that would give us a total quiet zone. As previously noted, quiet zone proposals currently do not enjoy much support on the Fairfield City Council. Then we must consider residences and businesses that would be affected by crossing improvements. However, these results do show us that for relatively modest sums of money, we can stay well below the Nationwide Significant Risk Threshold, and that our goal is within reason and reach.