A view of Dayton Valley from Mark Twain Park in 2022.
Photo by Scott Neuffer.
The Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization on May 14 unanimously approved an agreement with Lyon County to kick off a feasibility study for the Dayton Valley/Chaves Road Bridge Project.
Specifically, CAMPO approved an interlocal agreement with Lyon County for CAMPO to manage $1.25 million in Surface Transportation Block Grant funding for the study. There will be a 5 percent local match of $66,000 paid by Lyon County.
Overseeing the study, CAMPO will also be reimbursed for staff labor. The agreement, which was approved by Lyon County commissioners in April, will run through the end of 2028.
The study itself will identify a future location for a new bridge across the Carson River “and associated roadway network connections in the Dayton Valley area as described by CAMPO’s 2025 Regional Transportation Plan,” according to the agreement.
The study will include data collection, environmental and cost analysis as well as evaluation of bridge type and roadway alignment.
Carson City Transportation Manager Chris Martinovich, who staffs CAMPO, said an agreement with the Nevada Department of Transportation for the STBG funds will be finalized before a consultant is hired to perform the study.
CAMPO Chair Gregory Novak was concerned how flooding would affect the project.
“You’ll be working through the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process sometime in the future,” he said. “This is very early.”
Lyon County Commissioner John Cassinelli, who sits on CAMPO, said the county was thrilled to see the study moving forward.
“We actually have a proposed development on that side of the river to finish the golf course development that’s been going on for almost 30 years now,” he said. “Proposed (for) possibly 1,200 homes and more commercial development, a hotel element, so the bridge will be an integral part of that development, just to have a secondary egress… And hopefully we have a bridge within five to seven years, maybe. I don’t know how fast it’s going to move, but hopefully swiftly.”
After CAMPO adjourned, the Carson City Regional Transportation Commission convened and took action on the following:
• RTC members unanimously approved designs for stormwater drainage and road rehabilitation on Carmine Street that would include pavement reconstruction and multimodal improvements. With an estimated price tag of $5.7 million, transportation officials will be looking to identify funding sources.
However, utilizing Community Development Block Grant funding, the city will begin “limited ADA curb ramp and sidewalk upgrades in preparation for a future, larger reconstruction project,” according to a staff report.
“This really is a bad area for flooding,” Carson City Mayor Lori Bagwell, who chairs RTC, noted May 14.
Bagwell stressed Carmine is not an easy street to redesign.
• RTC members unanimously approved an agreement for the Nevada Department of Transportation to partially fund construction of the Curry Street Complete Street Project through $1.98 million in STBG funding, with a 5 percent local match totaling $104,139.
The project, focusing on the section of Curry between Rhodes Street and just south of Lake Glen Drive, received $2.6 million in congressional designated spending. The project includes road reconstruction, pedestrian infrastructure and utility work. Estimated total cost is approximately $5 million.
Related, RTC members approved a $681,890 contract with Lumos & Associates Inc. to provide design and construction support services for the Curry Street project.
• RTC members unanimously approved a NDOT agreement for $500,000 in STBG funds (plus 5 percent local match) for the estimated $1.6 million District 2 Little Lane Rehabilitation Project.
The project includes striping, reconstruction/preservation work and ADA improvements on the stretch of Little Lane between Roop Street and Saliman Road, according to the city.