Route to futurea crowded one

Traveling through Carson Valley isn't going to get any easier in the foreseeable future if our past is any indication.

A series of Nevada Department of Transportation workshops on how the Valley's road network will look in 23 years didn't offer much hope for the future of the Highway 395 corridor.

One of the charts provided by the state as part of the workshops shows the number of cars using Highway 395 south of Highway 50 increasing to more than 60,000 a day, an increase of nearly a third over the next 23 years.

The immediate future for Highway 395 entering Douglas County from the north is pretty bleak.

The construction of freeways to bypass Pleasant Valley and Carson City is going to bring increased interest in northern Douglas County to Reno workers for whom the commute might otherwise be a struggle. It will also mean that more Douglas County residents will be willing to commute to Reno. The short-term effect on the highway between Douglas County and Carson will be like taping a soda straw to a garden hose. Something is going to give.

Widening Highway 395 will help alleviate some of the congestion.

But what we really need is an alternative to Highway 395 into the Valley. We're not really convinced that connecting the freeway to Heybourne Road or Vicky Lane will do the trick.

If we're to begin preparing for the inevitable need, it's a puzzle that must be solved soon.