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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- The sound of trains horns blaring through downtown Ottumwa may one day be eliminated.

Discussions to make Ottumwa a quiet zone are in the works.

With nearly 50 trains each day, eliminating of all the noise would not only make things quieter, but also improve the quality of life.

 “The goal would be to try to increase the property values downtown. If you were able to have a better quality of life without the train whistles you could get housing located downtown,” said Tim Schwartz, President of Ottumwa Progress Incorporated.

A 2005 mandate requires trains to blow their horns four times and at an increased decibel level before occupying a crossing.

“A lot of work needs to be done. There are seven crossings right now and they all have one arm guard on each lane. There would have to be improvements to each one of the crossings to qualify as the quiet zone,” Schwartz said.

The next step is getting an assessment completed. They will be presenting the project before the city for their support.

“We’re going to request the city have this assessment done. OPI is willing to participate in the funding of that. That would be the first steps for (a quiet zone) to happen.

Schwartz said a concrete median would need to be constructed so vehicles cannot drive around the guards.

He compared Ottumwa to Burlington which recently became a quiet zone. They have eight crossing to Ottumwa’s seven.

He said their assessment cost roughly $15,000 and the total project roughly $330,000.

At this time he estimates the costs for Ottumwa to be roughly $300,000 for the total project.

While the Burlington project took five years start to finish, he hopes Ottumwa can be completed in less than three.