City breaks ground on downtown Carson Street corridor
Carson City officials broke ground this morning on the $11.4 million reconstruction project of the downtown corridor of North Carson Street, beginning a major overhaul of that area's streetscape and underground pipe network.
Mayor Bob Crowell, along with the Board of Supervisors, and Jeff Bean of Q&D Construction led the ground-breaking ceremony in between the Firkin and Fox, and Mom and Pop's restaurants at the corner of N. Carson and Third streets this morning.
"This is a monumental, momentous day for Carson City," Crowell addressed the crowd gathered in the Monday morning rain. "Carson City is now taking its rightful place as Nevada's true face for the next 100 years."
Crowell was encouraged by the supportive turn-out, in spite of the dreary weather, and he was hopeful that projects like the downtown corridor reconstruction continue to bring the community together.
"Today we're going to turn some dirt, and turn a page for Carson Street," he said. "Now our chore is to all do our part to make sure this succeeds."
The project's master plan calls for the replacement of water and sewer pipes underneath Carson Street that are more than half a century old, Carson City Transportation Manager Patrick Pittenger had said in a January interview.
The new streetscape design will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction, include a center median and bicycle lanes, and feature widened sidewalks that will reduce by 20 feet the distance pedestrians have to cross Carson Street.
The goal is to make Carson Street safer for bicycles and pedestrians, Pittenger had said.
There will also be limited on-street, face-in parking available with the deeper sidewalks, Pittenger had pointed out.
PIttenger has said that the downtown corridor project is the first in a series of reconstruction phases eventually planned for the entire length of Carson Street, from its far north end to its far south end.
This phase will include the portion of N. Carson Street between William and Fifth streets, Pittenger said.
Construction is expected to last about eight months, Pittenger had said, with completion by the first of November.
Crowell reiterated Monday what Pittenger had said earlier about Nevada Day festivities downtown. The project will not interfere with the Nevada Day Parade as the meat of the construction will have been finished by then.
What should remain at that time will be the clean-up phase toward the end, Pittenger said.
Pittenger has also said the downtown corridor segment of N. Carson Street will also be open to through traffic during most of the construction project. There will only be about ten days during the paving phase that the street will be completely closed off.
Alternative parallel routes to avoid the construction include N. Division Street on the west side, and Roop and Stewart streets on the east side of N. Carson Street.
East-west cross traffic on Washington, Robinson and Musser streets should only be minimally affected by the construction as those intersections will remain open as well.
Funding for the downtown corridor reconstruction is covered, in part, by the one-eighth percent sales tax increase passed by the Carson City Board of Supervisors in 2014, and in part from utility funds, Pittenger has said.
Details about construction, including a live construction map can be found online at www.carsonproud.com.
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