Extra federal money picked up by NDOT

Courtesy of the failure by other states to commit federal highway funding, Nevada’s transportation department has been awarded $21.6 million in added cash.

The process is called the August Redistribution, during which the federal government reclaims money from states that were unable to commit it to shovel-ready projects by the end of the fiscal year. That cash is then awarded to states that not only used all their federal appropriations but have more projects ready to go.

Nevada Department of Transportation Director Rudy Malfabon told the NDOT board on Monday this year, his department was able to collect $21,635,649 over and above its original federal funding for the fiscal year ended June 30.

Gov. Brian Sandoval, who chairs the board, pointed out NDOT has traditionally been good at collecting more funding in August. Since 2004, the department has collected a total of $115.46 million in the annual August redistribution process.

The board was told the water line break that delayed the opening of USA Parkway for two days has now been repaired. District Engineer Thor Dyson said it’s the third water line break beneath the parkway that runs from Interstate 80 through the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center to Highway 50 in the Dayton corridor. He emphasized none of those breaks were on the portion of the highway constructed under the $70 million contract with the Nevada Department of Transportation.

He said those incidents all occurred beneath the portion of the road that was constructed by TRIC owners and Storey County.

Dyson said the opening of the highway was delayed from Wednesday until Friday of last week while repairs were made. He said it made no sense to open the highway to traffic only to have that traffic blocked from getting through the industrial center.

Board member Len Savage told Malfabon he would like to see some action taken to ensure there isn’t another break this winter.

The board gave final approval to the 2018-19 work program for road and highway projects.

In Carson City, the list program features several projects along I-580 including construction of the bicycle-pedestrian path from Linear Ditch to Colorado Street for $750,000.

The list also includes several maintenance projects on bridges including at Arrowhead Drive and North Carson Street bridges.

One of the larger projects in Douglas County is $2.56 million worth of water quality and erosion control work on Highway 50 between Glenbrook and Round Hill at Lake Tahoe.

Lyon County will see a $4.2 million resurfacing and overlay project on Alternate 50 from Royal Oak Drive in Fernley to SR427 and a $1.6 million chip seal (resurfacing) project on both SR338 and SR208 in Smith Valley south of Yerington.

In Storey County, the budget includes completion of the $3.17 million project to widen and install signals at the intersection of USA Parkway and Waltham Way.