Backcountry road to get $30,000 pavement job for railway project

Virginia City - A section of a backcountry American Flat access road will receive a $30,000 pavement job in preparation for the reconstruction of the Virginia & Truckee Railway.

The Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway will cover the cost of the asphalt and pavement and Storey County will provide the equipment and labor to pave a 2,200-foot section of the American Flat access road.

Pat Whitten, Storey County director of administration and budget, said this agreement is a prime example of the teamwork between agencies in the effort to rebuild the $30 million tourist track that will operate between Virginia City and Carson City by 2009.

"Storey County fully supports this exciting regional project," he said Tuesday. "We are all convinced that this is something that is going to happen, not might going to happen."

The county commission decided at its Tuesday afternoon meeting to maintain the right-of-way road that the V&T operator will need to access its track for maintenance. An operator has not yet been selected for the project.

Ken Dorr, a head engineer on the V&T project, said the dirt/gravel road runs from State Route 342 on the lower side of Gold Hill up to the historic railroad grade and then up to American Flat. The portion of the road that will be paved is in a steep area near the railroad grade.

He said the 14-foot-wide, single-lane road will be paved in the spring or summer.

The Storey County Commission also decided that it would act as the public agency in the process of installing a railroad crossing in American Flat. The county commission also decided that no other public railroad crossing will be needed.

Dorr said it is unlikely that a signal light will be needed at that crossing because of the low volume of traffic on the road.

A similar resolution will come before the Lyon County Commission because the American Flat road is in both counties.

n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.