Letter: Locals should turn out for Sept. 20th meeting

This is in response to the letter from Margie West and your editorial on the Transportation Board/Tom Stephens (Aug. 29) in regards to the Carson bypass.

I agree wholeheartedly that something has to be done to shake up Tom Stephens and NDOT's smug disregard for our bypass.

Us "locals" should gather, en masse, on Sept. 20, Legislative Building, Room 1214 at 9 a.m. to voice our concern for the recent set-back of the bypass for the I-580 and its world famous "longest concrete bridge."

Tom Stephens and the members on the Transportation Board need to realize that Carson City citizens are not going to lie down quietly and be run over by them. The board members need to change their attitude and priorities and give the capital of Nevada the consideration it deserves to finish this Bypass (phase 1 & 2) and to remove the city street bottleneck that carries Highway 395 and 50 through the downtown area.

The two mayoral candidates that the Nevada Appeal endorsed have both said, in some of their campaign speeches, that the 395 bypass was really a "non-issue." A "non-Issue"?! Citizens have been waiting years for this project to be finished and we get nothing but more delays after each Transportation meeting. Let's hope whoever wins the mayor's office will have a good strong backbone, the guts to stand up for the citizens of Carson and the need for a speedy completion of the complete bypass.

Recently we saw the project drop on the "priority list." The mayor said, if I understood him correctly, the drop was "probably a typographical error on the part of the clerk typing up the priority list." That's a complete falsehood and he knows it. If we attend the Sept. 20 meeting and ask these elected officials what the score is, that will be clearly shown.

If a great number of us "locals" show up on Sept. 20 it also might give a hint to the board that we do have the power to vote, that we will remember this issue and maybe next time they come up for election we can give them and Clark County a run for its money and NDOT projects.

See you on Sept. 20, 9 a.m., Legislative Building, Room 1214.

KAYE KEETON

Carson City