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The Pleasanton City Council has approved funding to hire a consultant firm to develop a railroad quiet zone, a move that many residents who live near the train tracks have been asking the city to do throughout 2025.
Following the council’s unanimous approval of the $168,858 contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates as part of the Dec. 16 meeting’s consent calendar, city staff expect the entire process to establish the quiet zone to take about 21 months to complete. Consent calendar items are considered routine in nature and are typically approved by a single vote without discussion.
“Although it will take many steps, the better part of two years and require approvals from the railroad and federal agencies, we believe this will ultimately result in improved quality of life for all of us who live, work and visit downtown Pleasanton,” Jim Lehrman, a Pleasanton resident who lives near the Union Pacific Railroad train tracks, wrote on his Change.org petition he started nearly a year ago.
The petition, which called for the city to establish the quiet train zone, garnered over 400 signatures before declaring victory following the council’s approval Dec. 16.
“Thank you to the Pleasanton mayor and City Council, and to all the supporters of this petition,” Lehrman wrote.
Around the beginning of 2025, a number of residents who live near or right next to the train tracks around downtown began showing up to Pleasanton City Council meetings to voice how the loud train horns have affected them over the years. Students shared stories about being sleep deprived after being woken up the night before and others said the noise, in general, was unwelcoming to not just residents, but visitors to the downtown as well.
According to the Dec. 16 staff report, the Federal Railroad Administration in 2006 adopted federal regulations regarding train horns which established criteria to “eliminate the requirement for trains to sound their horns when approaching highway-rail grade crossings”.
Since then, staff have included a quiet zone study on its list of potential city projects to be prioritized for funding. However, over the last two decades, the city hasn’t prioritized that project due to the high construction cost previously estimated at $2 million.
But as staff noted, several East Bay agencies have recently implemented quiet zones with much lower construction costs. Lehrman’s petition noted cities such as Sunol, Fremont, Emeryville and San Jose that have successfully introduced quiet zones.
So after learning this new information, and receiving dozens of requests from the concerned citizens, the City Council in August approved a capital improvement project to conduct a feasibility study and design Pleasanton’s own quiet zone.
After issuing a request for proposals in October, the city heard back from the sole responding consultant, Kimley-Horn and Associates, to carry out the work to develop such a quiet zone.
“Kimley-Horn has extensive experience implementing quiet zones and railroad-related projects, including the development of quiet zones in both Menlo Park and Palo Alto,” the Dec. 16 staff report states. “Their project team includes staff with direct experience on numerous similar design projects, including at-grade crossing design and liaison with key regulatory agencies and other stakeholders.”
According to staff, now that the city has awarded the consultant with the contract, the firm will begin the multi-step implementation process for the quiet zone by conducting a preliminary analysis over the next couple of months.
The consultant team will then do some concept development and stakeholder engagement before returning to the council for review and approval of the design concept. The next steps include finalizing the design before moving on to permitting and approvals of any work that needs to be done.
“This timeline represents the best-case scenario, assuming timely stakeholder meetings and expedited reviews, as well as standard supplemental safety measures for implementation, which would not require extensive time to complete the design work,” the staff report stated. “The construction timeline is also unknown and depends on the type of construction required.”
One of the key moments during this entire process will be the City Council’s review of the design concept. According to staff, the council will have to assess whether the scope of improvements and costs will require additional funding to implement — the city is currently working under assumptions that the improvements will be small in scale.
“If more extensive improvements are needed, such as those requiring modifications to the train control or communication systems … the design of these more complex improvements would require additional funding and a separate approval,” the staff report states. “Construction costs are not part of this proposal and would also require separate approval.”
The feasibility study and preliminary design CIP project that the council approved in August is currently funded by surplus funds from the Bernal synthetic turf repair and replacement project.
In other business
* Also during its Dec. 16 consent calendar, the council approved $453,435 in grant funding to go toward the construction and operation of Tri-Valley Haven’s domestic violence shelter.
Nearly $225,000 came from federal Community Development Block Grant funds that will support the shelter rebuild that is currently in progress. Just over $228,000 also comes from Permanent Local Housing Allocation funds, which will help with near-term operating costs during the rebuilding process.
“On behalf of our board, staff and, most importantly, the survivors we serve, I want to sincerely thank the city of Pleasanton for its support through the Permanent Local Housing Allocation funding,” Christine Dillman, executive director of Tri-Valley Haven, said during public comment at the meeting.
She said during the Tri-Valley Haven’s rebuild of its shelter, PLHA funding allows the organization to safely house 30 survivors of domestic violence and their children at two confidential offsite locations.
“Because of this investment, families fleeing violence were not turned away. They have a safe place to sleep, to heal and to rebuild their lives,” Dillman said. “PLHA funding is doing more than provide shelter — it is providing stability during crisis and ensures that Pleasanton survivors are being connected to counseling, to advocacy and long-term housing pathways at a time when their safety and well-being depend on it.”
As the shelter rebuild is now fully underway, Dillman also encouraged the Pleasanton council to consider additional PLHA funding for Tri-Valley Haven.
“Continued support will allow us to meet the demand for safe shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children during the remaining rebuild, ensuring survivors have a safe place to turn,” she said.
* Another hefty contract that the council approved during the consent calendar was a $1.9 million agreement with Black Tie Transportation to run the Pleasanton Rides program for five years.
According to the staff report, Black Tie Transportation has been running the paratransit program since December 2020.
* The council adopted a new master fee schedule and maintenance and burial contract for Pioneer Cemetery in order to “address escalating operational costs at Pleasanton Pioneer Cemetery and implement fiscally responsible burial service practices for calendar year 2026”.
According to staff, the updated fee schedule will reflect increases for burial services and introduce a shift to “unbundled service pricing (with certain exceptions), separating burial services from plot sales to mitigate long-term financial liabilities associated with pre-need sales”.
As part of the updates, staff will also temporarily pause new casket plot sales beginning in January in order to evaluate new financially sustainable service delivery models that will help ensure the cemetery’s long-term viability.
“This is the first step in the process to develop a long-term, sustainable service and revenue model for the Pleasanton Pioneer Cemetery,” the Dec. 16 staff report states. “Staff will bring a more detailed sustainability plan for City Council review in the summer of 2026.”
