Highway 88 work to wrap up in time for school

Work on the intersection of Highway 88 and 395 and the Minden roundabout should wrap up by the Friday before Douglas High School opens for the fall semester.

Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder said Monday that work on Highway 88 in Minden is expected to wrap up next week and Aug. 25 is the outside date.

While the roundabout has been open for a few weeks, the hold-up has been on the curb work being conducted on the turning lane from Highway 395 onto 88.

Magruder said a layer of asphalt put down by Granite Construction last week will have to be torn up because it didn't meet the state's specification.

That work should be done early next week and then the final layer of asphalt may be laid and striping begin.

"They will have to mill up all that asphalt Sunday night and then repave it on Monday," he said. "The good news is that by next week, the intersection should be in its final configuration."

Magruder addressed neighbors' concerns that trucks were driving over the roundabout.

"It's designed so big trucks or emergency vehicles can go over it," he said. "That's why it has a rolled curb so emergency vehicles, hay trucks and triple trailers can go right over it. You don't want a big heavy curb there."

Magruder said state traffic engineers believe the roundabout to be an improvement over the one at Fifth Street and Edmonds Avenue.

"The engineers are saying this one is wider and bigger and even big trucks should have no problem with it," he said. "They have a lot of confidence in it."

Magruder said the roundabout was not the result of a federal mandate, but the result of educating traffic engineers in the options for intersections.

"Not every intersection is a good candidate for a roundabout," he said. "Highway 395 and 88 wouldn't be right for a roundabout. You have to have the right intersections, like highways 95A and 50 in Fernley. We look at where it is possible and then consider a roundabout. They really do reduce the number of rear-end accidents."

While Minden and Fernley received roundabouts, a proposal to install one in Pahrump came hard up against the Nye County Board of Commissioners, who voted against it.

"We said that if the county opposed it, we wouldn't put it in," Magruder said.

A motorist apparently failed to negotiate the roundabout just after midnight on Sunday morning, leaving a trail of wreckage. The Nevada Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.

NAVIGATING A ROUNDABOUT

n Slow down.

n Yield to traffic already in the circle.

n Obey one-way signs at all times.

n Watch for pedestrians and bicycles throughout.

n Left turns are completed by circling around the center island and then making a right turn to exit from the roundabout.

ROUNDABOUT FACTS

n A roundabout is a one-way circular intersection without traffic signal equipment in which traffic flows around a center island.

n Roundabouts can accommodate emergency and large-sized vehicles. Drivers should behave in the same manner as they would on any other road if an emergency vehicle approaches. Carefully move your vehicle as far right as possible and, if necessary, stop until the emergency vehicle passes.

n Because the only movement allowed upon entry or exit from a roundabout is a right turn, the occurrence of crashes that result in injury is substantially reduced. Small-angle collisions - the type of collisions that can occur as a result of a right-hand turn - are typically less severe than other types of collisions.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation