Cities from Provo to Salt Lake City are now one step closer to restored railroad quiet zones, as the final crossing that was causing the holdup has been addressed, Lehi officials announced in a social media post Friday.

As the Standard-Examiner reported in October, the Federal Railroad Administration suspended all railroad crossing quiet zones across Northern Utah as several of the crossings fell out of compliance with FRA code.

The federal agency sent letters to Lehi and Woods Cross — which serve as sponsor cities for the quiet zones on behalf of multiple cities — that the municipalities in those jurisdictions with unsatisfactory crossings would need to resolve such issues before all the quiet zones are restored.

According to KSL.com, quiet zones in the section overseen by Woods Cross — spanning from Salt Lake City north to Pleasant View — remain suspended as two cities along the route await the result of waivers sent to federal railroad officials.

Lehi was one of the cities, among others, with crossings that were in need of required maintenance.

In late October, Lehi officials said the railroad issues had been addressed, but a crossing near 1700 South in Salt Lake City that sits in the Lehi zone was still in need of adjustments to meet FRA compliance requirements.

As of early last week, the issue has been fixed. According to Lehi’s traffic engineer, Luke Seegmiller, the crossing was inspected Thursday and found to be compliant.

Seegmiller said he’s filed the necessary paperwork to begin the process of restoring the quiet zones within their jurisdiction.

“I’ve submitted an amended Notice of Establishment (NOE) which adjusts our quiet zone calculator,” he said in an email. “This was needed for reestablishing the quiet zone and was Lehi’s final action in the process.”

The path to restore silent rail line crossings won’t happen overnight.

“FRA will now go through a communication process to formally notify rail users that the quiet zone is in compliance and to update their systems and crews to stop blowing the horns,” Seegmiller told the Daily Herald.

From there, railroad operators will have seven days to update their systems.

The suspension of the quiet zones in September required Utah Transit Authority’s FrontRunner and other train operators to sound their horns at each crossing stop between Utah and Weber counties at all hours of the day.

While some cities may have had more complex issues to resolve, Provo officials say they had their railroad deficiencies completed prior to the July 15 deadline.

Vern Kessler, Provo City traffic manager, said they — along with other cities — assisted communities with looming railroad crossing issues in efforts to get them up to compliance.

“Hopefully all the cities in Utah will take FRA seriously when they issue a notice of deficiencies that those deficiencies get taken care of by the deadline and not test the FRA because they called the city’s bluff this time around,” he said.

Kessler said he sympathizes with those who live near railroad crossings and found the blaring horns unpleasant.

“I live 3 miles away (from a train crossing), and I can still hear the horns in the morning,” Kessler said.

Several residents shared a mix of reactions regarding the soon-to-be reinstated quiet zones in the comments on a post made by Lehi City Councilwoman Paige Albrecht on the Lehi Link community Facebook page.

Some expressed relief at the news of having silent train crossings once again, while others said the horns didn’t bother them and offered a sense of nostalgia from their youth.

Ultimately, while the process is in the final stretch to reestablishing the quiet zones, it may be at least another week before the trains stop sounding their horns.

“Lehi City will continue to represent cities in our quiet zone with FRA. We will continue to work with others to keep our quiet zone in compliance going forward to ensure this never happens again,” Seegmiller said.