Carson City supervisors accept 90 percent design phase of South Carson roundabout
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Thu, 08/15/2019 - 1:15pm
The Carson City Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed Thursday to accept the 90 percent design phase of the South Carson Street roundabout project following a presentation led by the city's chief engineer and comments from the public.
On Wednesday evening, the project was presented to the Carson City Regional Transportation Commission by chief engineer Dan Stucky. To date there have been 18 public meetings on this project.
The Carson Proud website is updated consistently in an effort to stay transparent to the public, said Stucky, as well as staff responding to public comment within 24 hours of receiving the comment.
The roundabout design has evolved over time, said Stucky.
“We believe the current roundabout design is the most optimal,” said Stucky.
The roundabout was approved in 2014 under a $7.6 million grant, said Stucky, and it is being set up for a future connection to Curry Street. It will also be used as a transitional zone from the higher speed to the lower speed entrance to the downtown area, almost as a downtown gate.
The roundabout is planned for the intersection of Stewart and Carson streets.
In 2009, there were 30,000 vehicles each day that came through before the freeway was completed; now, that number is down to 12,000 vehicles. Two lanes each way is no longer necessary, said Stucky, which is a major note of comment from the public.
The city has created an information video on how to use a roundabout. Go here to watch the video. A monument for the roundabout has yet to be determined, said Stucky, which will not be designed or created until the size of the roundabout is official.
Supervisor Giomi suggested the speed be increased from 35 to 40 mph south of the roundabout and 25 mph north of the roundabout while entering the downtown area.
A consultant has been hired for the project to look into “deceleration lanes.” One such lane would be added on 5th Street.
Supervisor Giomi also suggested looking into making the Raley’s and Olive Garden’s driveways to “exit only” in an effort to fix the issue of traffic slowing or stopping in the right hand lane of Carson Street.
“It wouldn’t restrict access to any of the business, but it will eliminate those right turn lane hazards,” said Giomi. “And it wouldn’t cost us any money.”
The RTC commissioners as well as the public were able to review plans for bike lanes in the project, and have received several comments that are now under review.
“We will look into making the roundabout even safer for cyclists,” said Stucky.
The next project meeting with the Board of Supervisors will be held in September and October regarding the TIGER grant and NID methodology. A pre-construction public meeting will be held in either November or December.
The Board and Stucky took public questions at the end of the presentation.
Citizen Glen Bush posed a question regarding safety of the crosswalks, and how drivers will be alerted to how to navigate the bypass lane.
The crosswalks will be lighted and flashing, said Stucky, and the crosswalks have been designed to not impact the flow of traffic within the roundabout. Stucky also said there would be several signs indicating how and where to use the bypass.
He also asked why the City spent so much money re-doing Stewart Street if the roundabout was already planned.
Stucky said the Stewart Street revamp was a Nevada State project through NDOT, not a city project, and the decision was not up to the city.
Doreen Mack of Downtown 2020 asked how about the number of lanes the roundabout will have and snow removal.
There will be two lanes southbound, one lane northbound with a center turn lane, said Stucky. He also said snow removal will be discussed at a future meeting.
James Clark, a new resident who moved here from Netherlands, said the Dutch would be “laughing their heads off” at how much money and planning is being spent on the project. He said people can adjust very easily to roundabouts and that this much planning is laughable. He said what he believes the issue is, is that Carson City is too dark and needs to be lighted better.
The design was approved.
To stay up to date you can text Carson Proud to 31996 to sign up for mobile messaging updates. You can also visit carsonproud.com.
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