Speed limit on Six Mile road to go up

Dayton's Steve Dalton has a long way to go to get to work and school, and now he can get there a little faster.

The speed limit on Six Mile Canyon Road has gone from 25 to 35 miles per hour.

Dalton, a medical school student and substitute teacher who commutes from his home in Dayton to work in Reno said he appreciated the increase.

"It hasn't changed my commute at all, because generally all they did was make legal what was happening anyway," he said. "I'm very appreciate of it because I realize Storey County deals with people who like to drive their cars into ditches."

The Storey County commission voted Tuesday to increase the speed limit on the road from R Street to the Lyon County line, but after staff-level discussions, workers in the county Public Works Department had already had signs installed with the higher limit posted.

Many Lyon County residents who work in Reno use Six Mile Canyon Road as a shortcut to get to jobs in Reno.

The speed limit on Mill Street, which connects Six Mile Canyon Road to Highway 341 through a residential area in Virginia City, will remain 20 mph.

"It seems like a prudent thing to do," said Storey County Manager Pat Whitten. "It's not possible to go 25 mph all the way down."

He added the speed limit is 35 mph on the first section of Six Mile Canyon Road in Lyon County.

Sheriff Jim Miller said more regulatory speed limit signs will be posted, as well as nonregulatory caution signs advising lower limits on curves.

"At 25 mph, you have to stay in low gear and keep your foot on the break all the way down," Miller said.

Miller had Deputy Jeff Bowers test the road at 25, 35 and 45 miles per hour, and found that the 35 mph speed limit was within the capacity of properly functioning vehicles, and that most of the road could safely be traveled at that speed.

The signs were put up in the beginning of July, and Bowers said there was no discernible increase in accidents during that time. He suggested a study of the road be done a year from now.

Bowers reported that several sections in the road should not be traveled at 35 mph and recommended that caution signs be installed to advise motorists of those areas.

Sharp curves in the road could make it difficult for RV drivers, and signs should be installed advising them to take an alternate route, Bowers said.

Dalton said he felt the change makes the drive safer.

"I think that by upping the speed limit, they eliminate the fear," he said. "I think it has actually made the drive safer. All of the people I talked to were pleasantly surprised and very appreciative."

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.