When the FrontRunner commuter rail trains come online in spring 2008, making runs from Pleasant View, Weber County, to Salt Lake City, residents along the transit corridor will notice a unique sound, or lack thereof.

The 13 cities through which FrontRunner will pass are beginning to sign agreements to establish a 44-mile continuous quiet zone — meaning trains will not be required to sound their horns when approaching the 34 street crossings in those cities.

Once established, it could be one of the longest such zones in the country.

Quiet zones are a convention governed by the Federal Railroad Administration, which requires safety measures to be in place for rail-street intersections if cities want to bar trains from sounding their horns, said Utah Transit Authority spokesman Chad Saley.

"We're converting all crossings so all of them meet the quiet-zone standard," Saley said.

The quiet-zone designation is contingent upon safety measures implemented and an application to the railroad administration, said Steve Kulm, Federal Railroad Administration spokesman.

Currently, trains are required to sound their horns when approaching street crossings to warn motorists and pedestrians.

In these locations, safety is heard loud and clear.

"A quiet zone tries to balance quality-of-life issues for residents who live near crossings while maintaining the safety of motorists who cross the tracks," Kulm said.

Safety measures include medians for some crossings to prevent cars from driving around crossing arms, Saley said. In other locations, where medians aren't feasible, four crossing arms will be installed — on each side of the tracks — to reach across all travel lanes, he said.

Woods Cross is the point city for the cooperative agreement among the cities for the commuter rail north quiet zone. The agreement states Woods Cross will receive and disseminate information about quiet zones to participating cities and that each city will reimburse Woods Cross $400 for administrative costs.

Woods Cross City Manager Gary Uresk said Clinton, Layton and West Bountiful have returned agreements to him so far, and he expects the rest of the cities to be on board by the middle of June.

"I haven't heard anything negative," Uresk said.

Saley said he expects UTA to work with cities to form quiet zones from Salt Lake City to Utah County when commuter rail is eventually extended southward.

The quiet zone formation will also apply to freight trains, which use the same crossings as FrontRunner.

Kulm said the Federal Railroad Administration doesn't keep data on the length of quiet zones other than the rule that states quiet zones must be at least one-half mile long.

"A (44-mile) quiet zone, we presume, would be the longest or certainly among the longest in the nation if that was to come about," Kulm said.

The $581 million Salt Lake-Pleasant View section of FrontRunner is expected to begin service in spring 2008.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com