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For North Valley resident Steve Wentworth, there's a construction project in his part of town that couldn't come a second too soon.

That's because the work, when complete, will bring what he said is some much needed peace and quiet to people living near the city's railroad tracks.

"In the evening when the air is right, you can hear those horns for literally miles," said Wentworth, vice president of the Alameda North Valley Neighborhood Association.

"Within a few blocks, it is literally deafening."

Work has already begun on quiet zones, places along the tracks where RailRunner train conductors won't be required to blow the horn if the crossing is completely blocked off to vehicle traffic.

Using $750,000 appropriated by the state Legislature, the Mid-Region Council of Governments is improving six crossings along the tracks between Menaul and Osuna boulevards Northeast.

"In corridors with a lot of crossings, like in the North Valley, it permits us to operate the train in the corridor without having to apply the horns," said Lawrence Rael, executive director of the MRCOG.

Some of the crossings, like the one where Comanche Road turns into Griegos Road and crosses the track, will have four gates to prevent traffic from getting onto the tracks, Rael said.

At the Candelaria Road crossing, motorists will find a high curb meant to stop drivers from going around the gates.

Wentworth said neighbors have been asking the state for the quiet zone construction for several years. Amtrak and BNSF trains also run on the track the RailRunner uses.

The quiet zones also come after two fatal RailRunner accidents on the tracks in Valencia County earlier this year, although the money was approved by the state before the accidents.

Once the Federal Railway Administration approves the new crossings, conductors still will sound warning horns when someone is close to or on the tracks, Rael said.

Wentworth said people could still walk on the tracks, but he said they'd do that whether the train blows its horn or not.

Even though the horns are expected to be diminished by the end of the year, all won't be totally silent in the valley.

Crossing gates will still have bells, Rael said.

"If you're driving and you approach a gate, you'll still hear the dinging," he said. "These crossings are designed really to limit noise of horns on trains."

The train, which came online last year, currently goes from Bernalillo to Belen, but it is expected to carry commuters between Belen and Santa Fe at the end of 2008.

Already, work has begun to lay the tracks between Bernalillo and Santa Fe.

In the wake of complaints about noise, dust and light where work is being done for the train at I-25 and St. Francis in Santa Fe, the Department of Transportation on Friday announced that it is working to reduce the disruptions to motorists and nearby neighborhoods.

"We will do as much as we can to help alleviate problems encountered with a construction project of this size," Department of Transportation secretary Rhonda Faught said in a statement.

Santa Fe officials, meanwhile, continue to work on plans for RailRunner stops in the city.