South Carson Street design one-third complete

The design of South Carson Street is one-third complete, a milestone that will bring it to the Regional Transportation Commission for review next month.

Carson City staff will start meeting with affected businesses next week to discuss the project and on Dec. 11 will host a public meeting, Lucia Maloney, transportation manager, told the RTC on Wednesday. The next RTC meeting is Nov. 14.

The South Carson Street Complete Street Project will reduce the road from six lanes to five, with a center turn lane, and add pedestrian, bike-friendly, and safety features. It is part of an agreement the city entered into with the Nevada Department of Transportation to transfer the road to Carson City after the I-580 bypass opened in July 2017.

Maloney presented NDOT’s annual average daily traffic counts, which show traffic has dropped off on Carson Street south of Fairview Drive as anticipated once the bypass was available.

On Carson Street 445 feet south of Appion Way, for example, a block north of the bypass, traffic has decreased from 52,000 vehicles daily on average in 2016 to 28,000 cars and trucks in 2017.

The biggest drop is on Fairview Drive, where the freeway previously ended. On Fairview Drive 200 feet east of California Street, traffic dropped from 30,000 vehicles in 2016 to 6,900 in 2017.

But traffic on Carson Street north of Fairview Drive has remained steady, On Carson Street 365 feet south of Stewart Street, traffic increased, from 19,000 vehicles in 2016 to 22,000 in 2017. In other areas, traffic slightly increased — from 17,000 vehicles in 2016 to 17,800 in 2017 150 feet south of 8th Street, and from 18,000 vehicles to 19,000 150 feet north of Ann Street. Farther north on Carson Street, 170 feet south of Winnie Lane, traffic is unchanged with 19,000 vehicles counted in both 2016 and 2017.

Last month, the Board of Supervisors approved a contract with Kimley-Horn to design a roundabout at the intersection of Carson and Stewart streets as part of the project.

The city’s Jump Around Carson bus route will be getting five new shelters, thanks to the Rotary Club of Carson City and APMFG Fabricators Inc., the shelters’ manufacturer.

The shelters will cost $40,000 and will be paid for through a federal grant which requires a 20 percent local match. The Rotary Club is donating $3,000 and APMFG is donating $1,000 per shelter or $5,000, which supplies the match.

The shelter locations have not been determined yet, but will depend on the needed right-of-way and ridership, Graham Dollarhide, transit coordinator, told the RTC.