Paving is set to begin today on Roop Street between Long Street and Beverly Drive, said Carson City Transportation Director Patrick Pittinger, and the project is on target for opening at the end of November.
"We've hit another milestone on that project, and although it will look like it's ready to go, this is mildly confusing," he said. "In this case, the paving is being done early because asphalt is temperature-sensitive."
Several aspects of the project will still need to be completed after the paving, he said, such as manhole covers, bus stops, sidewalks and landscaping.
"We also want to remind people that businesses in that area, especially on Corbett Street, are still open," he said. "We expect this project to help them in the long run, but in the meantime, we recognize that it's not very helpful to them, and we certainly want to support our local businesses."
A significant change as part of the Roop Street widening, which residents hadn't expected, however, was the one-way direction on Washington Street for the block in front of the library.
Library patrons can still enter from Roop Street, but must now exit by taking Walsh to Caroline, where stop signs have been installed to facilitate access back to Roop Street, Pittinger said.
"Washington Street was a bad situation before because it came in at an angle to Roop. There have been 21 accidents at that intersection in the past five years. It was already a dangerous design, and it would have been worse because of more cars and higher speeds," he said.
Another change motorists should anticipate when Roop Street opens is that the John Street intersection with Roop also will be reconfigured to allow only right turns off and onto John.
"There were serious issues at both of those intersections," he said, so they were redesigned.
Pittinger said there will be a slight lull in the spring when all the major street projects are completed. The city will then work with the Nevada Department of Transportation on a traffic study which will look at new patterns.
"We'll be counting vehicles to see where cars are shifting around now that all the projects are done. We'll use that information to coordinate the traffic signals throughout town," he said.
"Meanwhile, we want to encourage people to visit businesses on Corbett Street. Businesses like Jan's Tropics are eager for this (Roop Street) project to be done, and we appreciate everyone's patience," Pittinger said.