FOLLOWUP: Terminal 5 Quiet Zone declared officially complete. But that doesn’t mean you won’t hear train horns.

When West Seattle’s Terminal 5 was “modernized,” part of the plan was to create a railroad Quiet Zone to reduce – not eliminate – train horns in the area. Originally, it was supposed to be complete before the first modernized berth opened. But instead, three years after that happened, the Quiet Zone is finally officially complete.

Though it’s part of the Northwest Seaport Alliance‘s modernization project, the Quiet Zone’s construction was led by SDOT, the features of which are shown on their map above, and explained here. The work was finished by year’s end; the official Federal Railroad Administration notice happened earlier this month. If you’re wondering why this doesn’t mean an end to train horns, it’s mostly because T-5 isn’t the only facility that railroad traffic serves in the area – as you can see just by traveling along West Marginal Way SW.

P.S. If you’re interested, here’s the federal explanation of Quiet Zones.

CarDriver January 17, 2025 (1:49 pm)

Have to admit that I really enjoy hearing the train horns down here on Alki.

Bronson January 17, 2025 (2:43 pm)

As someone in Pigeon Point, I am thankful to not have to hear them blasting outside my window all hours of the night. However, I still hear the ones much further down the Duwamish, which, like yourself, I also enjoy.

Question Authority January 17, 2025 (2:53 pm)

Residents and visitors just need to accept the occasional horn as a reminder they are adjacent to an industrial area that also supplies them goods. You want peace and quiet, that’s available for you elsewhere outside of a port city like Seattle.

Seth January 17, 2025 (5:25 pm)

The barriers have been in for a while but I have not noticed a reduction in horn soundings, do the conductors now know this is a quiet zone? Will this take time for them to learn?

tk January 18, 2025 (6:42 pm)

Up on the Belvidere ridge area above T-5, the night time train horns (especially 4am’s) still blast out loud & long… even after the recent train crossing gates are now in place. Are we maybe hearing horns from Harbor Island trains which we thought were only from under the bridge? Or, are the trains still using their horns especially at night still? From the 2019 WS blog report it stated, “It was cautioned that the train operator still has the discretion of blowing the horn.”