Roop Street Reopening

Looks like there’s finally an opening date set for Roop Street. They’ve been rebuilding the stretch of Roop between Washington Street and the Lone Mountain Cemetery ever since the early summer. This has caused big headaches for traffic around town, since that is one of the major north-south routes through that part of town. Although, they wisely waited until the Stewart Street extension was done, so at least there was an easy detour to get around all the construction. But it will still be good to get all the cones and detour signs down and be able to sail through.
This project was more than just a simple repaving. They completely redesigned the street along that stretch of road, something that has been in the works for years. They widened the road, so now it is two lanes in each direction. They also created bicycle lanes, with the cooperation and advice of Muscle Powered (some of their efforts are here). They put utilities underground, rethought some of the traffic flows at intersections, and put up LED streetlights. Sounds like lots of good stuff for a heavily-used street. Next on the agenda is the project to rebuild Roop south of Robinson, and that’s going to be a whole mess of it’s own, but at least there are more detour routes in that part of town.
There will be a ribbon-cutting for the new stretch of road on December 16th, at 2pm, and then after that the road will be open to traffic. Here’s the press release:
Carson City officials will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 16, 2010, to reopen N. Roop Street following the completion of the reconstruction/widening project. The ceremony will take place on N. Roop Street between William Street and Corbett Street. City officials will be joined by representatives of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce and representatives of the private sector firms which participated in the design and construction of the road. Following the ceremony, the traffic control barriers will be removed, and the road will be opened to public travel.
N. Roop Street closed between N. Stewart Street and William Street in late January 2010 and has remained closed throughout the project. During the summer of 2010, the road was also closed between William Street and Robinson Street. Upon completion of the project, many benefits will be realized – some obvious and some not. While the primary improvement is the road having two through lanes in each direction, many additional improvements were made. These improvements include the following:

• The traffic signals at William Street and Long Street were upgraded.
• Sidewalks and bicycle lanes were constructed along the road.
• Bus stop improvements for the JAC transit system were installed – including bus pull-outs and passenger shelters near the library and community center.
• New energy-efficient LED streetlights were installed.
• The parking lot of the library was completely reconstructed.
• Safety improvements were made at two previously hazardous locations – the intersections of N. Roop Street with Washington Street and John Street.
• Utility poles along the road were permanently removed.
• Substantial improvements were made to numerous underground utilities.
• Long Street was reconstructed between N. Roop Street and N. Stewart Street.

City officials recognize that the project has impacted the public as they travel as well as impacting neighboring residents and businesses. City Engineer Jeff Sharp, who served as the project manager, said “We really appreciate the patience of the travelling public and property owners in the project area. We realize that the reduced access inconvenienced property owners such as the businesses on Corbett Street, and we’re happy to reopen the road and provide better access than ever.” The City’s Transportation Manager, Patrick Pittenger, stated “While the construction process can be difficult at times, we’re very pleased that we could complete the project during challenging economic conditions, as contractors were able to retain many employees to conduct the work and taxpayers benefitted from the favorable bidding climate.”
To access the ceremony on December 16, attendees are asked to park on John Street or on Corbett Street, as N. Roop Street will remain closed until the ceremony is complete and the traffic control barriers are removed.