Look for things to become a little bit quieter in the Ames area.

The Ames City Council passed an ordinance Dec. 19, which set up a quiet zone along the east and west train tracks.

The council passed the ordinance in response to complaints about the daily horn blow, said 1st Ward Councilman Dan Rice. “[Ames] residents have been complaining about the noise for years,” Rice said.

The so-called “no horn rule” will apply to the east and west train tracks that run through the downtown business district.

The city will add to the length of the medians on Scholl Road, North Dakota Avenue and North Hazel Avenue to make the ordinance more safe.

A four-quadrant gate will also be installed at the Duff Avenue Crossing by this fall.

Plans for a similar ordinance may be in the works for the north and south tracks that run though a residential district. However, 3rd Ward Councilman Ryan Doll said the average amount of trains that run through the business district outweigh that of the residential district.

“Four trains run through the north and south line, while there may be an average of 68 [trains] in the business district,” Doll said.

Engineering studies have been done to ensure that the quiet zone is safe, Doll said.

Citizens’ complaints have also led to possible speed limit changes on South Dakota Avenue from Lincoln Way to U.S. Highway 30 to 35 mph.

Rice said drivers have complained that the speed changes too often – from 30 to 40 to 25 mph in some places.

Doll said a citizen complained it was too hard to turn at certain junctions. The council had a traffic engineer study the stretch and approved a possible speed limit change.

“We [the council] have tried to strive for consistency in speed and studies show that pedestrians can cross easier when the speed is set faster,” Rice said.

The speed limit change will be voted on for the first time at the council meeting Tuesday. An ordinance goes through three votes before passage.

Other items on the council’s docket include a resolution supporting local control of smoking in public places, resolutions pertaining to the East Lincoln Way Widening Project and the Duff Avenue Hardscape Project and a resolution approving a Major Final Plat for Nacin Subdivision. The council will also have the first vote on several ordinances: speed limit change on Stange Road, parking restrictions on the south side of Hampton Street and the removal of the “Preserving Floodplains Areas” requirement from Chapter 23 of the Municipal Code.