Jump Around Carson route changes adopted

Changes to the Jump Around Carson bus routes were finalized by the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) Wednesday.

The RTC also gave Public Works staff the go-ahead to solicit bids for nine street maintenance projects for the coming fiscal year.

The changes to JAC were made to tighten up bus route times.

“All the buses arrive at the transfer station at the same time so if one bus is late we can’t hold three buses to wait, then people miss their transfers,” said Graham Dollarhide, transit coordinator. “On time reliability is extremely important.”

The RTC first discussed the bus route changes at its December 2016 meeting and the city advertised the proposed new routes on buses and shelters, held an open house and took public comment through mid-January.

At the RTC meeting in January, several staff from the Sierra Nevada Health Center on Research Way spoke during public comment, asking the bus stop in front of the clinic not be eliminated as proposed.

The stop was originally put there because it was difficult for the center’s patients to cross College Parkway to get to the bus stop on the north side of the road.

Since then, a traffic signal has been put in at College Parkway and Research Way, near the Maverik gas station, making it safer and easier to cross the street there.

City staff planned to eliminate the stop but came up with a compromise, keeping the stop for route 2B westbound only.

If passengers want to ride eastbound, they can either cross College Parkway to an eastbound stop or pick up the westbound bus in front of the clinic and ride it until it loops around.

Dirk Goering, transportation planner, pointed out disabled riders also can qualify for JAC Assist, the paratransit service that takes them door to door.

The changes are scheduled to go into effect April 1.

Maps of the new bus routes are available online at carson.org/home/showdocument?id=53756.

The RTC also directed staff to move ahead with nine street repair projects for fiscal year 2017-2018.

Public Works anticipates having $1.6 million for the work and has identified nine projects costing an estimated total of $1.3 million.

Eight roads will undergo some kind of surface sealing: Airport Road, from College Parkway to Highway 50; Arrowhead Drive/Medical Parkway, from Emerson Drive to Eagle Valley Ranch Road; Carson River Road, from 5th Street to Sierra Vista Lane; College Parkway, from Carson Street to Ormsby Boulevard; Edmonds Drive/Synder Avenue, from Fairview Drive to Synder Avenue and between Edmunds and Bigelow drives; 5th Street, from Saliman Road to Fairview Drive; Koontz Lane, from Edmunds Drive to Curry Street; and Stewart Street, between William and Carson streets.

A mill and overlay, considered major reconstruction, will be done on College Parkway, between Nye and Sherman lanes.

The next step is to put the projects out to bid and take them to the RTC in several months to award the contracts.