Trempealeau picks SEH for train quiet zone study

The Trempealeau village board picked engineering company Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) Inc. to conduct its train quiet zone study later this year.

The board unanimously approved picking SEH for the job, which is estimated to cost $11,600 and will provide information on how expensive it would be to create a quiet zone and potential next steps for pursuing one in the village.

Trempealeau has two train crossings, one on Fremont Street and another on King Street.

The bid from SEH was the cheaper of two bids obtained by the village, the other coming in at $14,000 from SRF Consulting, Inc. of Minneapolis.

“SEH. ... has a significant pool of knowledge with quiet zones. They’ve got experience. They’ve got people who’ve done them for a long time. From comparing the proposals it looks like SRF is really well known, they’re a leader in quiet zones,”  Isaac Pooler, village administrator/finance director, said. “I think SRF seems like they’ve got a lot more experience and it’s more of a specialty for them compared to SEH, but both of them appear capable of doing that (study).”

The SRF bid was also larger because it included the costs for traffic counts at the crossings, which SEH did not feel was necessary at this stage in the process, Pooler said. 

The original SRF bid without traffic counts was $12,000.

The study will begin this Spring with the goal of it being completed by June, according to board discussions last week.