NDOT lays out Carson City transportation plan

Transportation work plans affecting Carson City and the area won acceptance from two panels Wednesday, including one covering state work here costing $8.2 million this fiscal year.

Rudy Malfabon, director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, presented the state plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-16 to the Carson Area Metropolitan Organization meeting in the Carson City Community Center. He noted the work plan includes what just began on extending the Interstate 580 freeway bypass from Fairview Drive south to Spooner junction. That work is slated to be done by some time in 2017.

“There’s nothing wrong with finishing ahead of time either,” Mayor Robert Crowell kidded Malfabon during an exchange. But finishing that last leg some time in calendar 2017 remains the expectation.

Malfabon’s report also envisioned spending through FY 2018-19, which includes another $29.9 million, atop the $8.2 this fiscal period, for a total of $38.2 million affecting the city and neighboring Lyon and Douglas counties. All three of those governing units have representatives serving on the metro organization panel.

Malfabon stressed safety in his report, saying zero fatalities still is the goal. But he said over a recent five-year period there were 17 deaths here in 13 fatal crashes, plus 1,289 injuries in 974 injuring-producing accidents.

The other transport unit, which met just after the metro organization, was the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC). It’s made up of the metro panel’s city representatives. The RTC reviewed a city transport work plan, approved some road work or transport-related contracts, and gave its blessing to the 30 percent design of the downtown makeover that includes traffic changes for Carson Street.

The planned makeover’s 30 percent design previously won similar support from Carson City’s Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee. Similar looks will come at 60 percent and 90 percent design stages.

Among the contracts approved were two for work by A & K Earth Movers, Inc. The first is for a not to exceed price of $257,400 to do a Little Lane Street improvement project, the second for a not to exceed price of $240,290 for A & K to do an East William Street shared use path project. There were four bidders on the former project, a pair on the latter.