Carson City considers road projects on north end of town

Carson City Public Works’ is considering five road projects in the industrial and residential area at the north end of town for the current fiscal year.

On Tuesday, the Transportation Resource Advisory Forum for Carson City (TRAFFC) met for the first time in nearly a year to get an update on current streets work and provide input on the proposed projects for 2019.

Public Works has returned to using a system that divides the city into five sections and focuses road projects in a different area each year.

Lucia Maloney, transportation manager, told the forum concentrating projects that way saves money because the city can go out to bid early in the calendar year for the best quotes and construction firms can mobilize once.

The possible 2019 projects in and around Arrowhead Drive were scored using a pavement management system, which looks at variables such as pavement condition and traffic volume to prioritize work.

The five projects being considered, in order of their score, are College Parkway from Carson Street to Airport Road; Hot Springs Road between Carson and Roop streets; Roop Street from Old Hot Springs Road to College Parkway; Arrowhead Drive between Emerson and Convair drives; and Goni Road from College Parkway to Boeing Way.

The total cost of the projects likely exceeds the department’s $1 million budget and will be prioritized at the direction of the Regional Transportation Commission.

There are now five performance districts. In 2020, work will move to the center of town, encompassing downtown. The east side, from Highway 50 south, will see projects in 2021. Work will be focused in the south central commercial area in 2022 and on the west side in 2023.

One concern from a TRAFCC member was whether roads in other parts of the city would suffer while they wait their turn.

The city also has $100,000 for emergency repairs and safety improvements that can be used anywhere in the city, said Maloney.

And other major projects, outside the rotating district system, will be tackled if grant funding can be secured. Reconstruction of Kings Canyon Road, for example, is in design now and will break ground in 2020 with a $3.5 million Federal Lands Access Program grant. Maloney said some measures to raise more money may go before the Nevada Legislature in 2019, including the revival of a diesel tax proposal that failed in 2017 as well as a tax on non-gas vehicles. If both were enacted, it would add about $500,000 to the city’s annual roads budget.