Lyon County has sent a request to the director of the Nevada Department of Transportation to begin discussions on solutions to reducing the traffic crashes on Highway 50 throughout central Lyon County, according to a news release.
Lyon County has seen a number of fatal and serious injury accidents throughout the Highway 50 corridor from the Carson City line to the Churchill County line in the past several years, the release said, the most current being a double fatality accident in Dayton on Wednesday.
Commissioner Ken Gray on Thursday requested at the county’s Board of Health meeting that staff request NDOT to provide the Board of Health with traffic collision data for the next Board of Health meeting.
County Manager Jeff Page said Gray had also contacted him and requested a meeting with NDOT to determine solutions to reducing the collisions and carnage caused by them.
The Dayton area has experienced a 17.7% increase in population since 2010 and a significant increase in traffic since USA Parkway opened.
Lyon County reports there are several local roads that intersect with Highway 50 and during peak traffic hours making a left-hand turn is extremely difficult. NDOT has been receptive to working with the county on these issues including the installation of a stoplight at Highway 50 and Fortune. Page believes that there are a variety of solutions that can be discussed.
A significant portion of the people that live in the Highway 50 Corridor commute to Carson, Reno, Tahoe-Reno Industrial Park, or Fallon on a daily basis, and Highway 50 is the main route to TRI for residents in Carson, Douglas, Lyon, and parts of Storey counties. Page is hopeful that solutions can be developed soon and implemented as quickly as possible to address the safety of the traveling public.
