Railroad Crossing Study

Latest updates 

May 19, 2026

In April 2026, the City of St. Louis Park and SRF Consulting Group completed a study of the railroad crossings along the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Railway(PDF, 2MB) , also known as the Dan Patch line. This rail line runs north–south through St. Louis Park and several neighboring communities.

The purpose of the study was to identify what infrastructure improvements—and associated costs—would be needed for the city to establish a quiet zone. A quiet zone is an area where trains are not required to routinely sound their horns, provided certain safety measures are in place.

The CPKC rail line includes 16 crossings within St. Louis Park, along with four in Edina and two in Golden Valley, that warrant consideration given their close relationship to the St. Louis Park crossings. They would need to be part of a potential quiet zone if every crossing in St. Louis Park was to be part of a quiet zone.

Because the spacing between some crossings, individual or groups of crossings in the city can be part of their own quiet zone. These quiet zones can be considered subzones within the city and can be implemented and combined when different improvements are made.

At the April 27 study session, city council directed staff to move forward with implementation efforts:

  • Subzone D
    • Begin work to implement quiet zone improvements in this area. This process is expected to take 18 months to implement.
  • Subzones B and C
    • Gather community feedback, including input on the possible closure of the 29th Street crossing.
    • Explore funding opportunities that could help reduce the cost of the improvements identified in the study for possible future implementation.
  • Subzones A and E
    • Coordinate with the cities of Golden Valley and Edina to understand their interest in future improvements that could support quiet zone implementation.

Even with the study being complete, it’s important to understand the following:

  • The designation of quiet zones is a lengthy process, likely to take years to implement.
  • Not all crossings may be deemed feasible to convert to quiet zones. Those crossings would then be recommended for closure, which means they would be closed to all pedestrian, bicycle and vehicles traffic.
  • The cost to implement crossing improvements will be significant. The city's Capital Improvement Plan will need to be amended to include this project and a funding source identified.

Background

Trains are required by the federal government to sound their locomotive horns at all at-grade railroad crossings and when unsafe situations are present near the railroad. The horns are sounded regardless of the time of day.

St. Louis Park has a long history with freight rail trains transporting goods through the community. Three railroads traverse the city: Burlington Northern/Santa Fe (BNSF), Twin Cities and Western (TC&W) and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).

  • BNSF doesn't have any at-grade crossings and, therefore, only sounds horns when a safety issue is present near the tracks.
  • TC&W is co-located with the Green Line Light Rail Extension. Recent light rail crossing improvements have created a corridor that won't require horns to be sounded, once the light rail is operational.
  • The CPKC railroad has 14 at-grade crossings that require horns to be sounded at each crossing.

In late summer 2024, CPKC trains began traveling overnight on this track. The city heard from some residents who were understandably disturbed by the overnight train horns, along with the train noise itself. City staff contacted CPKC, which shared that CPKC trains are traveling this line on a nighttime schedule to best meet customer and operational needs. Further, CPKC has no current plans to return to a daytime schedule for this line.

While we understand this is a new and unwelcome disruption, neither the city nor the state has the authority to tell the railroad when or how they can operate.

Why a railroad crossing study

The city is completing a railroad crossing study because:

  • The city wanted to be responsive to recent resident concerns about overnight train noise.
  • Resident concerns may be long-term, given CPKC’s plans to continue with overnight trains due to their customer and operational needs, and their required compliance with federal safety protocols.

In late October, staff from Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Railroad, the Federal Rail Authority, MNDOT Office of Rail Safety, the City of St. Louis Park and our consultant firm conducted a comprehensive field review of all CPKC railroad crossings in St. Louis Park. The purpose of these site visits was to evaluate each crossing and develop recommendations for physical infrastructure improvements that may be necessary to meet the requirements for establishing a railroad quiet zone.

The study is expected to be completed by summer 2026.

Federal train horn rules

Railroads are regulated at the federal level, including a safety regulation requiring crews to sound locomotive horns at crossings. Learn more about the Federal Railroad Administration’s safety protocols.

Federal regulations have a process for communities to partner with the railroad to greatly reduce the frequency of train horns, referred to as quiet zones, while maintaining safety compliance.

How to have your voice heard

Community members with questions may contact CPKC Community Connect customer service at 1.800.766.7912 or communityconnect@cpkcr.com.

Public engagement

Updates

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Contact

Jack Sullivan
Assistant city engineer
952.924.2691
jsullivan@stlouisparkmn.gov

Location

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) Railway quiet zone map(PDF, 793KB)

Study

City of St. Louis Park Quiet Zone Assessment(PDF, 2MB)

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