Deer Run Road residents opposed to city rock hauling plan

Deer Run Road resident Tom Quigley said a proposal by Carson City officials to use large trucks to haul rocks down the road is "like the camel sticking his nose in the tent."

In 1996 Carson City supervisors banned heavy truck traffic from Deer Run Road after complaints from residents.

Now, the city's street department is asking supervisors for a two-week window that would allow them to haul rocks from a Bureau of Land Management material site in Brunswick Canyon to the Carson City Airport. Supervisors take up the issue Thursday.

The rock is to be used in a storm drainage project at the airport, said John Flansberg, city street operations manager. He said removing about 125 truckloads of rock would clean up the BLM site and would save the city about $35,000.

"To me it's a very reasonable request," Flansberg said. "We're going up there for a short time, using materials that if we can't haul it out, will just sit up there unused. We're not trying to incite anybody. We're not saying it's going to be open forever."

However, Quigley and other neighbors think that if the city allows trucks in just once, it will open the door for continuing truck traffic on the road.

"If they break it for one day, they'll just keep using it," resident Tom Dotson said. "Get those cotton pickin' trucks off the road. Let them use the main highways. That's what they're supposed to do."

Recently, city trucks have been seen using the road "without telling anyone," Quigley said.

"There's not supposed to be any (large) truck traffic," Quigley said. "The city went out there once and helped themselves. We wrote them a letter and asked them to tell us in the future if they were going to do it again. They've been up there on three different occasions. The city says no truck traffic, and then the city just circumvents it.

"They should stick to the resolution. It has been determined that residential and construction are incompatible uses. There were hours and hours of public discussion on this."

Flansberg said the city has worked in the area within the last year, but said the projects were for improvements to the Carson River and the Mexican Damn. Permission to open the road to truck traffic wasn't needed in those instances, he said. Flansberg said because the Brunswick Canyon bridge was closed after the 1997 flood, Deer Run Road is the only alternative to remove the rock.

Quigley said besides being a safety issue, residents along Deer Run are concerned truck traffic will decrease their quality of life.

"It's designated as a recreational access area," Quigley said. "There are lots of bikes and pedestrians. We're trying to maintain that lifestyle and quality of life. That's why we moved here. We like our lifestyle the way it is.

"I don't want to budge at all. They need to find another way to get the rock out if they need it."

- City supervisors will also appoint someone to the Regional Transportation Commission. Commissioner Steve Reynolds is asking to be appointed to a second, two-year term. Mayoral candidate Tom Keeton, who lost his bid for election in the primary, is also asking to be selected for the commission. Dennis Ritche, a member of the Public Transportation Advisory Committee, and Michael Zola, a highway engineer with the Nevada Department of Transportation, are also vying for the position.

If you go:

What: Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting

When: Thursday, 8:30 a.m.

Where: the Community Center's Sierra Room, 851 E. William St.