State Highway projects for Lyon County

YERINGTON - It will be at least two years before residents see any further widening of Highway 50 east of Dayton.

Nevada Department of Transportation Director Tom Stephens said the widening of the highway from two to four lanes from Fortune Drive to Chaves Road is currently scheduled for 2002.

"There are still a lot of funding issues, so it will be up to the transportation board," Stephens told Lyon County commissioners last week. "We do not have a prediction for when it will be widened from Chaves Road to Highway 95A in Silver Springs.

When Highway 50A may be widened to four lanes from Fernley to the Churchill County line is also unknown.

Projects scheduled for fiscal year 2001 include:

- Resurfacing of Highway 50 East from the Carson City line to one half mile east of the Virginia City turnoff. ($1.6 million)

- Bridge replacement, highway widening and intersection improvements at Highway 50A and 95A in Fernley. ($5.25 million)

- Repaving 4.5 miles of Nordyke Road from south of Cremetti Lane to 95A. ($2 million)

- Construction of a left turn pocket on 95A at the Fernley Transfer Station. ($715,000)

A total of approximately $14 million is allocated for 13 Lyon County projects.

Noting it would give the central Lyon and Churchill County workforce access to the proposed industrial complex, Commissioner LeRoy Goodman said a route from the Ramsey/Weeks cut-off over the hill to the Reno-Tahoe Industrial Park needed to be considered in future plans. However, Stephens said the beneficiaries of the 19-mile route would be the developers of the project, and they should be the ones looked to for help.

Commissioners also asked if Shirley Avenue, the access road from Highway 50 to the Silver Springs Honor Camp, could be oiled or chip sealed. Residents are complaining of blowing dust from the well-traveled gravel road.

The state owns the road; but, according to County Manager Stephen Snyder, as part of the agreement with the state and in the spirit of co-operation, the county periodically blades the road.

Stephens said several possible swaps of county and state road ownerships are currently being discussed, including Weeks Cutoff, Farm District Road and Cottonwood Lane in Fernley, Colony and Day Lanes in Smith Valley, and Bridge Street in Yerington.