BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal The bridge near the Chocolate Nugget in Pleasant Valley on Thursday evening. Nevada has settled a lawsuit over the land, which is needed for the freeway through Pleasant Valley between Reno and Carson City.
Nevada has settled a lawsuit over another piece of land needed for the freeway through Pleasant Valley between Reno and Carson City.
The property owned by Stephen Parker is at Corey Canyon Road, which leads from the existing highway to the new freeway being built along the western hills through that area. Under terms of the settlement, the Nevada Department of Transportation will pay $3.13 million for 13 acres of the 17 acres owned by Parker.
NDOT's contractor is already building on the property. NDOT Deputy Attorney General Pierre Gezelin said it was necessary to begin the project by building on that land between the Cattleman's Restaurant and the Chocolate Nugget to provide a road for trucks to reach the freeway construction site.
Parker's lawyer Laura Fitzsimmons said the property was targeted for acquisition 20 years ago. The original offer was for $444,500.
Gezelin disagreed with Fitzsimmons' statement that the original offer was "ridiculously low." He said it was complicated because it included both commercial and residential property. He said when negotiations started three years ago, the state offered $1.8 million and Fitzsimmons countered with a $2.8 million appraisal.
Gezelin said there are still several parcels of right-of-way NDOT is negotiating for in the geothermal zone south of Mount Rose.
The project, 8.5 miles, will connect the existing freeway from the Mount Rose Highway to the north end of Washoe Valley so that the entire trip from Reno to Carson City is on a controlled access, multilane freeway.
The project is scheduled to open to traffic in fall 2008.
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