Transportation commission to revisit Roop bike lane issue

Carson City residents intent on creating a network of bicycle routes throughout the capital city are hoping the Regional Transportation Commission will reconsider its original plan for creating five lanes on a stretch of Roop Street.

The city is taking another look at widening Roop Street between Beverly Drive and Fifth Street after scuttling the project several years ago when bids came in too high.

But members of Muscle Powered and other bicycling enthusiasts fear that creating five traffic lanes would not allow them to use what they consider a vital north-south link for the city.

The Unified Pathways Master Plan, adopted in 2006, identifies a lack of north-south routes as being a handicap to alternate transportation options for residents.

Muscle Powered Chairman Jeff Moser wrote in a June e-mail to RTC Chairman Shelly Aldean that "the current five-lane design, with four travel lanes and one turn lane, would preclude bicycle lanes from this section due to the limited right-of-way width."

Aldean replied in a July e-mail to Moser that she would discuss his concerns with city staff.

"As you probably know," she wrote, "the improvements under way on Stewart and the improvements contemplated on Roop are an important mitigation for the future narrowing of Carson Street to accommodate the city's downtown redevelopment plans and to maintain an acceptable level of service in these areas."

The RTC will hear an update on the issue when it meets at 6 p.m. today in the Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

"What we hope to hear from them," said Dan Allison, a Muscle Powered board member, "is that they've come up with a solution where we can add a bicycle lane but not completely change the scale of the project."