ICYM: Meeting discusses Carson City area road safety following tragic deaths in capital city, Mound House
Submitted by Jaedyn Young on Mon, 02/19/2024 - 9:30am
With recent tragic accidents involving young pedestrians in Carson City and Mound House on the minds of many, the Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization met Wednesday to discuss the long-range plans of road safety issues in Carson City and the nearby counties, including northern Douglas County and western Lyon County.
Ella Marquez Conchas, a 10-year-old girl was killed in Mound House near the intersection of Highlands Drive and U.S. 50 on Jan. 23 and on Jan. 28, 14-year-old Lexi Rodriguez was killed in the crosswalk at the intersection of North Carson Street and Nye Lane.
Both of these tragic deaths have sparked safety concerns amongst residents in the Carson City area, to which CAMPO stepped in with their new safety plan.
“I would argue that this plan has an element of humanity,” said Chris Martinovich, the Carson City Transportation Manager. “Those are some of the reasons why we’re doing this plan … and that’s why this plan is so important.”
They said it would take a few months to present, but April is the goal for their draft to be presented to CAMPO.
The 10 priority locations they presented for safety concerns included five segments and five intersections.
The five segments included: (1) Saliman Road from Long Street to Fairview Drive, (2) North Carson Street from Long Street to I-580, (3) South Carson Street from US-50 to Stewart Street, (4) South Curry Street from Lake Glen Drive to Curry Circle and (5) E College Parkway from I-580 to US-50.
The five intersections included: (1) US-395 and US-50/I-580, (2) Goni Road and Old Hot Springs Road, (3) Airport Road and US-50, and (4) US-395 and Topsy Lane and (5) Highlands Drive and US-50.
At each of these locations, they plan to investigate the traffic signals, lighting, road markings, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Citizens in the Carson area have shown concerns about low lighting issues and lack of crosswalks in the area in the past as well.
Martinovich presented data that showcased all crashes in the area from 2015 to 2022. This revealed that 4,265 crashes out of the 4,565 car crashes occurred on local roads and of all the crashes, there were 35 fatalities and 82 serious-injury crashes.
The presentation also mentioned the Federal Highway Administration has 28 approved counter safety measures and strategies to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries. CAMPO presented a few including lighting, pedestrian, two-way stop controlled intersections and signalized intersections safety protocols with their effectiveness measured by crash reduction factor (CRF) percentages.
For example, a pedestrian countdown timer for crossing has a CRF of 70 percent, meaning if the timer is put in place, crashes at the location could be reduced by 70 percent. There is also a lighting statistic that has if intersection lighting is installed, crashes at the location could be reduced by 38 percent.
The next plan steps include compiling a list of recommended projects from observations, highlighting the safety project prioritization, continuing to their target of zero fatalities, completing the Local Road Safety Plan and finding funding to apply for to put the project in place.
Lori Bagwell, the mayor of Carson City who is included in CAMPO, shared a letter she received from Leslie Torres, a Carson City resident who called for more safety measures at the North Carson and Nye Lane intersection.
“Whenever we have a critical fatality or accident, we’re always going to review our safety data and look if there is something we should be programming in the future to take care of this,” Bagwell said. “I just wanted to share the letter to even let the public know they can participate in these plans and to help us identify.”
Bagwell said she wants to hear from the public of the possible “missed” intersections with issues since there could be no data on certain areas if they haven’t had a crash yet.
“That is a perfect way to say it: the public can help build the story,” Bagwell said.
Gregory Novak, the vice chairperson of CAMPO added that other aspects of education and enforcement could help as well, emphasizing things like pedestrians not wearing black at night could help.
"We have to do it together," Bagwell agreed. "All of us have to be involved in (the) protection."
There will be a CANPO meeting March 5 in Mound House, 7 p.m., at the Mound House Community Center, 56 Red Rock Rd, that will address road safety concerns.
To listen to the rest of the discussion, click here.
