FALLON - Drivers headed south from Fallon on U.S. 95 will not be able to get to Schurz for the next 10 days because of flooding on the Walker River.
The Nevada Department of Transportation put up an advisory barrier warning motorists at about 1 p.m. Thursday. NDOT Public Information Officer Fred Hinners said the stretch of U.S. 95 from Schurz to 10 miles south of Fallon - a major north-south highway to Las Vegas - will be officially closed for more than a week due to high water.
"If you leave Fallon and you're trying to go to Schurz, you're not going to get there, and if you're trying to go from Schurz to Fallon, you're not going to get there, either," Hinners said.
NDOT representatives are advising people to take U.S. 95-A through Yerington and Silver Springs as an alternate route to Schurz until the flooding subsides.
NDOT spokesman Scott Magruder said rapid snowmelt in the mountains has forced the release of water from reservoirs. Because of this, low-lying roadways and bridges in the Schurz area have been flooded, and more flooding is expected.
Although NDOT has designated 10 miles south of Fallon as the closing point of U.S. 95, Hinners said people who live between that point and the actual flooding would be able to drive through that section.
"If you go up to the barrier, and say you've got two miles to go before you get to your hay ranch or get home, we'll let you through," Hinners said. "It's a barrier, but it's more advisory. Why let people go until the water's all the way up to their hubs before they turn all the way around? It's just best to let people know that they can't get all the way through to Schurz."
If drivers do try to get to Schurz, Hinners said, they would have problems.
"Don't drive your car until it floats," Hinners said. "If you try to get to Schurz on U.S. 95, that will happen. That's your problem, not ours."
n Burke Wasson can be contacted at bwasson@lahontanvalleynews.com
