Steve Kamau is tired of "noise pollution" from Union Pacific trains sounding their horns as they ramble through Manteca, Calif., often at speeds in excess of 55 mph, the Manteca Bulletin reports. The Manteca resident has launched a signature gathering effort at the ipetitions.com site aimed at collecting signatures to try and convince the City Council to address the issue.

It won't be easy. Forty months ago a similar effort failed. While it didn't fall on deaf ears - the council was sympathetic - the main hang-up was the cost. Staff research in mid-2007 indicated it would cost the city anywhere from $1.6 million to $180 million to address the issue of loud train whistles.

Kamau's "quiet zone" approach, though, would be less costly assuming Union Pacific, the Federal Railroad Administration and California Public Utilities Commission agree that Manteca meets conditions similar to those that it took to establish similar areas in cities such as San Diego and Richmond. The criteria for the establishment of a "quiet zone" includes active warning devices being in place and that advanced warning signs alerting motorists that train horns are not sounded at the crossing.

The "quiet zone" request could be dicey simply based on the fact there have been three pedestrian versus train incidents - two fatal - in the past decade at Manteca rail crossings.

Kamau's petition points to the loss of sleep from loud train horns being a health issue. He notes the eight-foot sound wall placed between Atherton Drive and the rail tracks in southeast Manteca was helpful to near-by one-story homes in the Tesoro neighborhood but not two-story homes.

Kamau wrote that, "Given the extent of the railway in Manteca, we all most likely share similar if not identical issues with the train horn."

The three options explored back in 2007 by the council were:

* relocating the train tracks into rural areas outside Manteca, which is highly unlikely.

* constructing elevated bridges at the city's nine at-grade track crossings at a cost of at least $180 million.

* putting in place the wayside horn system for $1.6 million that the insurance authority providing coverage for Manteca said could open the city to major damage awards should lawsuits occur with train-vehicle accidents after the system is installed.

Federal law requires train engineers to sound horns a quarter of a mile in advance of an at-grade crossing. Manteca has nine such crossings. As a result, engineers sound the horn all the way through the city.

Previous studies for bridges at tracks at Yosemite Avenue, Center Street, Main Street and Industrial Park Drive concluded adjoining land uses would be severely impacted or eliminated. The city has, however, at one time adopted plans for a bridge crossing of the railroad on Airport Way when that major north-south arterial becomes six lanes in the future.

Should the city revisit the wayside horn system there are a number of points the 2007 study made including:

* There is no guarantee the engineer won't sound the horn if they perceive a hazard exists.

* There are no federal or state funding sources.

* The city would be required to carry up to $6 million more in insurance and agree to hold the railroad harmless.

* The Municipal Pooling Authority, which administers the city's liability program, had a request for such coverage from the City of Martinez that they denied insurance the increased risk could be detrimental to the 19 cities in the pool and that such coverage was difficult if not impossible to obtain.

* All nine at-grade crossings would need to be done at a cost of $1.6 million to make the system effective.

* Wayside horns would drastically reduce noise if not eliminate it as far as impacting nearby homes and businesses.

The wayside horns warning system that puts a series of loudspeakers - three typically at a crossing - are activated when a train approaches. The decibels are not only lower but the noise is directed by loudspeakers at the crossing primarily to the motorists that need to be warned. The system was first put in place in Roseville eight years ago on crossings were trains either slow down or pick up speed at the marshaling yards located in that community. Less than a half-dozen cities have followed suit with wayside horns.