SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials of a city in western Iowa have agreed to spend more than $100,000 on a project to silence train horns that now frequently blare through downtown.  The Sioux City Journal reports that Sioux City Council voted on Sept. 18 to approve a contract with Twin Cities-based SRF Consulting Group Inc. to create a “quiet zone” at multiple BNSF Railway train crossings downtown. Quiet zones are areas which meet specific safety guidelines that allow trains to pass through a crossing without sounding their horns.

Mayor Bob Scott was the lone dissenting vote. He says he voted against the project because the contract was being given to an out-of-state company instead of a local business. The city created another quiet zone in the downtown area seven years ago.