First section of freeway to open this afternoon

The first four-mile section of the Carson City Freeway will open this afternoon amid much fanfare with speeches and a ribbon cutting.

Scott Magruder, Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman, spent Wednesday busily preparing for today's 2 p.m. event. He said the ceremony should be on the side of the freeway for traffic running north, above Arrowhead Drive. The public will first be allowed to drive the freeway from the southbound side and should be allowed to starting rolling through at about 3 p.m.

"Our first priority is to make sure there aren't any crashes on the new freeway," Magruder said. No matter what type of weather occurs, however, "we're still going to have the ceremony."

The National Weather Service predicts a partly cloudy day reaching 35 degrees, with a slight chance of snow showers in the evening.

The first vehicle to roll along the freeway will be Gov. Kenny Guinn's official car, the familiar black Cadillac with the "1" license plate. Whether he actually drives it down the freeway himself or is a passenger will depend on weather conditions, said Steven George, spokesman for the governor.

The $120-million section of the freeway has been under construction since Oct. 15, 2003, and stretches from Highway 50 East to the northern entrance to Highway 395, near Lakeview Hill.

Guinn is also expected to make some remarks, George said.

Among the dignitaries expected to attend are residents involved with Gardeners Reclaiming Our Waysides - the local nonprofit group that, in partnership with NDOT, received a $2 million federal appropriation for the landscaping around the freeway.

"We're excited," said Jan Miller, vice president of GROW.

Before going to the freeway ceremony, however, she and other GROW members will attend the Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting, where their landscape design concept will be presented to the board for possible approval at about 8:45 a.m.

Focus of the presentation will be landscaping along the southern leg of the freeway. Once the board approves this concept, those involved can officially show the community what is being planned.

Cost for all of the landscaping is expected to reach $5 million. GROW, NDOT and the city intend to seek partners, such as businesses that will be near the freeway, who might be interested in helping with the landscaping, along with any grant funding available, according to GROW members.

While landscaping around the freeway is among items supervisors will hear during their meeting today, they intend to spend part of their afternoon at the dedication ceremony along with other government officials representing Carson City.

"It's been a long time coming," said Mayor Marv Teixeira, who is expected to speak during the ceremony. "We got this started in 1996 with the initial funding. There were times when I didn't think they were going to happen. But look where we are now."

The city will be contributing as much as $40 million to the project, including increasing the traffic capacity on Fairview Drive to accommodate the Fairview interchange, which is expected to open in 2008.

The bypass of Carson City's downtown is expected to be done in 2010. It will connect to Highway 50 near the base of Spooner Summit.

-- Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.