The horns at Tequesta Drive are no longer waiting on a vote. According to the Village's own project report, dated September 30, 2026, the Federal Railroad Administration reviewed the crossing and confirmed that "several pavement markings" there "must be removed and relocated to meet Quiet Zone requirements." The Village's road contractor is scheduled to mill, repave and restripe several lanes at the crossing in October and November, and that work has to be finished before the quiet zone can begin.
That is a long way from where the Village stood three years ago. Even so, once Tequesta Drive goes quiet, the next crossing to the north will keep sounding, and Tequesta has no say over it.
The 2023 Pause, and Why It Mattered
Brightline's extension to Orlando changed how often trains came through. In December 2023, CBS12 reported that Brightline trains crossed Tequesta Drive at least 30 times a day after Orlando service began. Every Brightline train and every Florida East Coast Railway freight train sounded its horn at that crossing.
The Village had already done physical work by then. CBS12 reported that Tequesta had installed additional gates and safety signs, which made it eligible to apply for a quiet zone. At a workshop that December, though, the council postponed the federal application. CBS12 said the reasons were safety concerns and wanting to give seasonal residents time to get used to faster trains. WPBF's coverage described the trade-off in the same terms. In a quiet zone, horns stop for routine crossings but can still sound in an emergency, and Village officials kept stressing safety. CBS12 reported that Mayor Molly Young acknowledged residents' complaints about the noise and also called the horns a safety warning. Council member Rick Sartory said he was not ready to install a quiet zone.
Those were the Village's positions in late 2023. CBS12 reported that the added gates and signs were part of a 2021 strategic plan. By January 2025, Stet News reported that Tequesta was upgrading its only crossing, on Tequesta Drive, before applying to the FRA. The September 2026 report shows the project has moved to federal review, and the FRA has listed specific corrections.
Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens Went First
Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens offer the clearest preview of what's ahead for Tequesta, because federal review slowed both of them too. In January 2025, Stet News reported that Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter and Riviera Beach had spent $3.5 million in federal money on crossing safety improvements, and federal officials still said the work fell short. At that point, West Palm Beach was the only city in north Palm Beach County with an established quiet zone.
Within seven months, both of the closer neighbors were quiet:
| Jurisdiction | Crossings | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach Gardens | Six | Quiet zone in effect | July 24, 2025 |
| Jupiter | Six | Quiet zone in effect | August 8, 2025 |
| Tequesta | Tequesta Drive | FRA-required pavement corrections scheduled | October–November 2026 |
| Martin County, including County Line Road | 27 countywide | Voted down March 2025; vote to revisit May 2026 | No date set |
The Palm Beach Gardens zone covers all six of the city's crossings. Stet News reported that officials put the safety work behind it at $125,000. The Palm Beach Post reported that Jupiter's six crossings gained quiet-zone status on August 8, 2025, two weeks after the Gardens, and that train engineers no longer have to sound their horns there.
Both cities also show that the final federal sign-off can be the slowest step. The Gardens and Jupiter had been working on their crossings for some time before the January 2025 report found them still short, and both quiet zones started that summer. Tequesta is now at that final review stage, and the remaining items are concrete.
What Still Has to Happen at the Crossing
The September 30 project report lays out the remaining work in this order:
- The Village's engineer has reviewed the FRA's findings and identified the corrections needed at the crossing.
- The Village's road contractor mills, repaves and restripes several lanes, with work planned for October and November.
- The quiet zone can be established only after those corrections are done. The Village says the goal is to end routine horn sounding at Tequesta Drive while still meeting federal safety standards.
The report gives no date for the horns to stop, and October–November is a construction schedule as of September 30, not a promise. The same report shows how easily outdoor work slips. Rain and king tides pushed the nearby Tequesta Drive Bridge restoration back about a week.
The Village also spells out what residents should expect once the zone is in place:
"Residents should expect realistic limits on horn silence: horns will still sound when needed for safety or emergencies, and will continue at the nearby County Line Road crossing, where a Quiet Zone has not been established."
Why Tequesta Will Still Hear Horns From County Line Road
The County Line Road crossing at Old Dixie Highway sits on the Village's northern edge, but it falls under Martin County, not Tequesta. In 2023, CBS12 reported that Martin County planned to watch safety at its crossings for about a year before deciding on quiet zones.
On March 11, 2025, Martin County commissioners voted unanimously against quiet zones at all 27 of the county's railroad crossings, citing possible safety effects, according to WPTV. WPTV also reported that Brightline was paying for up to $1 million in additional safety fencing.
The issue came back in spring 2026. At a Hobe Sound residents' meeting on April 28, Commissioner Stacey Hetherington said she supports quiet zones and that the next step was to take them to the full commission, WPTV reported. On May 19, WFLX reported that commissioners voted 3–2 to take up quiet zones at a future meeting. They will not schedule that discussion until a federal railroad representative can attend. Residents who spoke at that meeting described more than 30 trains a day, the same frequency CBS12 reported at Tequesta Drive in 2023.
WFLX reported that Hetherington told the commission, "There is a process in place. We can safely do this and implement these crossings and balance the quality of life for our residents." According to the same report, Commissioner Blake Capps was open to discussing it but questioned "whether we should get these additional safety measures in place first before we institute quiet zones in Hobe Sound." Neither source we found mentions a separate plan for County Line Road.
That means two different timelines affect the Village. Tequesta Drive is waiting on a paving contractor and an FRA sign-off, while County Line Road sits with a county commission that hasn't set a meeting date. Once Tequesta Drive goes quiet, the crossing at the Village's northern edge will be the nearest one where horns still sound routinely, and that will last as long as Martin County's discussion does.
The Rest of This Fall's Work on Tequesta Drive and Old Dixie
Anyone who drives Tequesta Drive this fall will pass more than one work zone. As of September 30, the bridge restoration had finished its concrete spalling and paver walkway repairs. Crews had cleaned corrosion off the steel sheeting on both sides, removed the old cap, and installed reinforcing bar for a new concrete encasement. About 75 percent of the bridge had been pressure washed, and 40 percent had its first coat of paint. The concrete pour was waiting for the king tide to recede, and crews were preparing to install vinyl sheeting to stabilize the bridge's northeast side.
The Old Dixie Highway resurfacing, which leads up toward the County Line Road crossing, was reported complete. Permanent markings were expected within about two weeks of the September report, weather permitting. Plans to beautify Old Dixie are still waiting on a Palm Beach County permit review and have no work schedule yet.
The work most likely to change daily life is the restriping at the rail crossing. Until it is finished and the FRA approves the zone, every train through Tequesta Drive will keep sounding its horn.
Living near the FEC corridor is a common question when a home sale is on the table: which crossing a street is near, which jurisdiction controls that crossing, and where its quiet-zone process stands today. If train horns factor into a move you're considering, Steve Rockoff can go over the crossings near a specific address with you in a confidential consultation.
