Carson City Regional Transportation Commission members Jim Dodson, left, and Gregory Novak on Wednesday evaluating a proposed roundabout for Goni Road and Arrowhead Drive.
Photo by Scott Neuffer.
Members of the Carson City Regional Transportation Commission on Wednesday decided not to include a roundabout at Goni Road and Arrowhead Drive in the District 1 Goni Road Rehabilitation Project. At the same time, they directed staff to keep the study that recommended the roundabout on hand for future development in north Carson.
Unanimously passed, the motion approved the 2024 study as presented, excluded its recommendation on the roundabout from the existing road project but stipulated using “the recommendations from the study when considering future development.”
The motion followed public comment during which two business operators who use the intersection voiced concerns about large trucks struggling with a roundabout. Transportation staff had noted, “This location is an important link for industrial/employment centers to College Parkway and I-580.”
“Roundabouts, in general, are not truck-friendly,” said Bob Roll, general manager of Cinderlite Trucking Corp. “We’re at 105 feet long. There is not a roundabout around here that we can get around without rolling up on it.”
Roll said no one wants to follow a truck in a roundabout, causing trucks to wait long periods, backing up traffic. He added the current four-way stop at the intersection works for the company.
Gene Sheldon, co-owner of six industrial parcels with buildings on Arrowhead and Goni, had similar concerns.
“I’m in favor of roundabouts in the proper application,” he said. “I just don’t think Goni and Arrowhead are the proper application.”
Sheldon elaborated: “We’re trying to solve a problem that’s about an hour long in the morning and about an hour and a half long in the afternoon. The rest of the time, the four-way stop works perfectly. But when the businesses let out and when everybody is going to work in the morning, that’s what we’re trying to solve. I’m not necessarily against the roundabout, but as it’s shown, I don’t believe it would accommodate the heavy trucking that we do.”
Transportation staff and Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., which conducted the study, did account for trucking with preliminary designs of the roundabout, according to Carson City Transportation/Traffic Engineer Casey Sylvester. What prompted the city to address the intersection was the 2024 study showing the level of service already failing in the morning hours, with evening level of service projected to fall from a D rating to an E rating within two years.
But the study also found only four crashes at the intersection over a five-year period (through 2023), with no fatalities or serious injuries. Because of few crashes and the high price tag of the roundabout — an estimated $3.2 million versus $1.8 million for a traffic signal — RTC members felt there were higher priorities in the city, especially when pursuing federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding.
However, RTC members agreed keeping the roundabout as an option could address future development in the area, with potential pro-rata contributions from developers for the infrastructure. RTC members also maintained that should the roundabout return, any design must account for trucks using the intersection including those with extra trailers.
“I think it’s an important long-term plan in that there will be development, and I think this an opportunity to design with the actual truck size and what is actually used so that there can be a clear expectation of what’s available and what the needs are,” said Supervisor Lisa Schuette, who sits on RTC.
The city received two written public comments about the roundabout proposal, one in favor and one against.
“I hope that a roundabout will be constructed there rather than a stop light. The staff report sums up all of the reasons quite well and I wholeheartedly agree,” Kimberlee Lynn Zonge of Franklin Road wrote Jan. 3. “Even though the price tag is a bit shocking for the short term, it will be worthwhile in the long run.”
On Jan. 6, Mike Lucido wrote: “During most of the day, there is absolutely no traffic at this intersection. Building a roundabout or installing traffic signals would be a huge waste of money without any traffic flow improvement.”
Tentatively slated for construction in 2026, the District 1 Goni Road Rehabilitation project will include “pavement rehabilitation and safety improvements on Goni Road between College Parkway and Arrowhead Drive,” according to the city.
In other action, RTC members voted unanimously to retain Schuette as RTC vice chair and Mayor Lori Bagwell as RTC chair. During the Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting beforehand, RTC members Gregory Novak and Lucia Maloney were appointed chair and vice chair of CAMPO, respectively. The leadership terms for both boards expire in a year, according to the meeting agendas.