In The Record-Courier on Jan. 28, the state transportation officials presented the Highway 395, circa 2030. The officials, of course, are from the Nevada Department of Transportation.
On Jan. 23, Franklin (Hap) Fisher, a mechanical engineer and I, an electrical engineer, attended a community meeting in Jacks Valley Elementary School regarding the future Highway 395 from Clearview Lane, Carson City to Highway 88 and Gardnerville. When Hap and I mentioned the railroad there was complete disinterest by people who, of course, are interested in automobiles. My comment was, that's too bad because transportation includes all means of getting from one place to another; whether by car, by bus, by old fashion trains, by modern trains, by ships, by air or by whatever means. This is not the right solution.
Therefore, when they are talking about the year 2030 you are probably talking about some small vehicle that is driven by individuals and heavy goods will move by rail or truck. I strongly suspect that the rail transportation will be the principal way of moving people around; connecting Susanville, Reno, Fallon, Virginia City and Minden/Gardnerville and other places to the south and east.
There is a great deal of interest in the planned crossing of the Galena Creek just south of Reno. They state that they need millions of dollars more to build this high level crossing, but I personally believe that it will cost billions of dollars more and, therefore, it is not a feasible or affordable system. According to NDOT statements that I have, the originally proposed crossing was to be only 125 feet high. This means, of course, that the four columns which are each currently 300 feet high are to be cut down to 125 feet each for their final height. Of course, there is no explanation of how they plan to get rid of 700 feet (4 x 175 feet, which is the difference between 300 feet and 125 feet) of heavily reinforced concrete columns. Perhaps they are going to pick it up with a helicopter. At any rate, this whole project is a nightmare and should be canceled as expediently as possible before bankrupting the state of Nevada.
One practical solution for this Galena crossing problem is a low-level crossing leaving Highway 395 as is and adding a light rail system. Since NDOT is a transportation system perhaps they could come up with a simple system with a couple of curves to be above Galena Creek flood stage and have a modern year 2030 transportation system that will be useful and viable for our community.
This pipe dream should be trash canned and the transportation department should develop a plan that can handle the actual problems that will be occurring in the year 2030, which is a little over 22 years from now. A possible handicap to this problem is the rumor that there are some casinos planned in the Galena valley. I hope that these rumors are not true. If the existing clubs are having problems competing with Indian casinos at this time, what will it be like for them with more competition?
Since the United States is virtually bankrupt, we should not also bankrupt the state of Nevada.
-- Donald E. Bently is the founder of Bently Nevada and a Minden resident.
