Carson City residents asked to share ideas on roadside memorials

Carson City residents will be able to share their thoughts on roadside memorials Thursday as part of a series of public meetings across the state aimed at determining policy.

The Nevada Department of Transportation's draft policy offers three options to the controversy of roadside memorials brought by the protest of a cross on Highway 50 West dedicated to a slain South Lake Tahoe 9-year-old.

"We can continue doing what we are doing. We would not remove roadside memorials unless they were a clear and present danger or inappropriate in size or design," said spokesman Scott Magruder. "We can allow nothing at all, or the compromise would be a standardized marker."

Comments will be considered before a final policy is adopted, he said.

According to the proposed plan, the marker would be installed as close as practical to the location, would be placed at the request of the family at no cost to the family and remain at the location two years with a possible two-year extension if requested.

"If this policy option were adopted, existing roadside memorials at the location of fatal traffic crashes would be replaced with a standard roadside memorial marker where appropriate," said Rick Nelson, assistant director for operations.

In September a Reno attorney threatened to sue on behalf of an unnamed Reno client if the state did not remove an 8-foot-tall cross to Krystal Steadman from the right-of-way on Highway 50 two miles west of Carson City. The attorney cited the cross was on state land, which they believe violates the separation of church and state, and it's in a state right-of-way, which is prohibited by law.

Comments on the memorial policy can be made between 4 and 7 p.m. at the transportation department's headquarters at 1263 S. Stewart St. on the third floor.

Public comment is being taken today at the District II office at 310 Galletti Way in Reno.

Magruder said written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. April 9. Send comments to Richard Nelson, Nevada Department of Transportation, 1263 S. Stewart St., Carson City, NV, 89712. Comment may also be submitted online at: www.nevadadot.com/public_involvement

Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.