Mound House resident Rosy Conchas, mother of Ella Márquez Conchas, 10, who died Jan. 23 after she was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Red Rock Road and U.S. 50, speaks out about seeking improvements along the highway at the March 5 Mound House Citizen Advisory Board meeting.
Photo by Jessica Garcia.
Tuesday’s Mound House Citizen Advisory Board meeting drew a record turnout of about 100 residents seeking updates on traffic and pedestrian safety along the U.S. 50 and East Carson Street corridor.
Residents heard results on preliminary findings from a Jan. 25 tour Carson City’s Public Works Department held covering some of the most dangerous intersections with the Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (CAMPO) boundary. They also heard updates and recommendations for projects under consideration, including the U.S. 50 East Carson Complete Streets Plan that encompasses the highway from the Interstate 580 to Highlands Drive in Mound House.
Also, Wendy Madson, executive director of Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties, talked about ways the HCC is working to improve communications to reduce the number of injuries and deaths.
Both discussions became CAB agenda items after two wrecks involving girls in Carson City and Mound House who attempted to cross a major thoroughfare.
In Mound House, Ella Rose Márquez Conchas, 10, was struck Jan. 23 at the intersection of Red Rock Road and U.S. 50 with her uncle returning from the Red Rock Liquor Store, where they had gone to purchase candy with her friends, her mother Rosy Conchas told the Appeal March 6.
On Jan. 28 in Carson City, Carson High School freshman Lexi Rodriguez, 14, died attempting to cross North Carson Street and Nye Lane using a crosswalk.
Investigations for both remain open.
Rosy Conchas and Lexi’s mother, Katherine Rodriguez of Carson City, attended the Mound House CAB meeting. Conchas provided public comment, thanking everyone who has supported her but asking for change.
“I spoke to people who say there needs to be several accidents before we can do anything, but how many more deaths?” Conchas said. “How does that sound? Does the community of Mound House not matter? Is that what we’re hearing?”
Conchas asked for the installation of a crossing light or roundabout along the U.S. 50 to help deter speeding drivers and to create great visibility.
“I want to make sure there’s, in a way, justice, from what we can do,” she said. “There’ll be justice for the driver, but for our part, if you can help me, that’s all I’m asking … and to make sure we’re not turning a blind eye on my daughter’s death.”
Kelly Norman, senior transportation analyst with Carson City’s Public Works department, said CAMPO’s primary goal is to provide a comprehensive planning process and to implement projects for motorized and nonmotorized users.
Norman said in Mound House in the past five years, there have been three deaths, all pedestrians, and said the plan is important to help increase safety in the local community. Norman said staff members who have focused on the Mound House portion and conducted their site visit on Jan. 25 referred to statistics on crashes, made observations and examined data.
“Within the local road safety plan, we are concentrating tonight on the Mound House location, and there are nine other locations we’re also looking at in the same way,” she said. “Mound House came to the forefront. …. We noticed the lack of lighting, speeding vehicles and limited sight distance and visibility for left turns from Highlands onto U.S. 50. There are no marked pedestrian crossings in the whole of Mound House.”
She referred to future transportation projects, including the preservation of a stretch of the U.S. 50 corridor from Russell Way to Deer Run Road and Arrowhead that is now in design. While she said this portion does not include Mound House specifically, there is a project forthcoming currently in scope to begin that NDOT will run, she said.
Chief Deputy Mitch Brantingham of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office responded to concerns from some about a lack of law enforcement response or resources to speeding drivers. A fifth-generation Nevadan, Brantingham said he grew up along U.S. 50 and recognized its dangers.
“To stand up here and tell you we don’t have the right officers or the right resources to affect traffic on the highway is an answer that’s stood in this community for far too long, and it’s not the message Sheriff (Brad) Pope has for the people in this community,” he said.
John Cassinelli of Dayton, a business owner who previously was located in Mound House for 20 years, called the traffic situation “frustrating.”
“Back then, NDOT had a plan,” Cassinelli said. “I know they must have spent tens of thousands of dollars designing that, and here we are, 10 years later and nothing’s happened.”
He said he hoped to work with CAMPO, NDOT and Lyon County on creating a solution for the highway, whether it included traffic light installation or creating a roundabout. But to hear the target pledge date of 2050 for zero fatalities did not sit well with him, he said. He also preferred not to reduce the speed limit further but said he understood it’s still a highway.
“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do,” Cassinelli said.