Before Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center can open it must construct a secondary access road to the expansive 80-acre Carson Tahoe campus. Much is riding on eight-tenths of a mile of asphalt between Medical Parkway and North Carson Street.
It's a road project complicated by the number of land owners - three - their engineers - two - and the timeline - tight. The regional medical center is scheduled to open Dec. 3. Construction on Silver Oak Drive should begin within a week to 10 days.
"It's going to be a real scramble," said Carson City engineer Larry Werner about the construction schedule. "We're really curious to see how it goes."
He said a majority of the permitting isn't completed yet. The only sections of the road ready for permitting are owned by the hospital and businessman Tom Brown. The three property owners will hire a surveyor this week.
The land will be donated for use as a public roadway after it's completed, Werner said. Carson City will then maintain it.
The first 684 feet of Silver Oak Drive off Medical Parkway will be on land owned by the hospital. The next 924 feet is owned by Silver Oak Development. Brown owns a 824-foot section. Silver Oak owns the remaining 1,738 feet that will connect the two-lane road to GS Richards Boulevard, which gives the hospital access to West College Parkway.
The city will construct the intersection of Silver Oak Drive with Highway 395. Ultimately it will have a traffic light, but Werner said there isn't enough time to order the lights to finish the signal by the December opening. A permit with the Nevada Department of Transportation must be secured to connect with the highway.
"If for some reason there's a delay with permitting with NDOT for 395 access, then they'll already have access to GS Richards Boulevard," Werner said.
GS Richards drops into a roundabout with access to the Silver Oak Golf Club clubhouse and then empties into College Parkway.
Mike Stephenson, of Palmer Engineering Group, said the project could cost up to $2.5 million. He did the master plan for the alignment and is the project manager for Brown and the hospital.
Kevin Stansbury, chief operations officer of the Carson-Tahoe Hospital, said primary access to the hospital will be from Medical Parkway and Carson Street. A traffic light with a protected left turn will be installed there by late September or early October.
Silver Oak Drive will come off Carson Street near Broadleaf Lane.
"Silver Oak Drive will run in a northwest direction and loop up to connect with Medical Parkway at about where Sierra Surgery & Imaging is located," he said.
Stansbury said there is no exact date when the road is set to be completed - just before December.
n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.
The certificate of occupancy
The hospital can receive a temporary certificate of occupancy without the full completion of the secondary access road, but to receive the final certificate the road is needed. Patients will not be moved to the new hospital until after the secondary road is open, said Carson-Tahoe Hospital spokeswoman Cheri Glockner.
State licensing
When the hospital's administration says it's ready, it will receive an on-site inspection from the state Bureau of Licensure and Certification. The inspection includes life-safety code, construction and health surveys, said Diane Allen, health surveyor supervisor with the bureau.
