Lane changes included in Highway 395 work

Staff Reports

Not all of the proposals in a Highway 395 corridor study will cost millions of dollars and years to complete. The state is preparing to work on some in the very near future.

A collection of improvements including a median barrier, longer acceleration lanes, improved intersections and even a change in speed limits are in the cards for the highway.

Work on a median cable barrier between Muller Lane and Mica Drive is expected to be completed by June 2008.

Traffic engineers estimate the barrier will cost $1.2 million and money has been budgeted by the state to complete the project.

Work on the barrier will also require flattening the median and some openings in the median might be moved. Rumble strips and wider roadway markers are also on the list for completion in the next six months.

Also proposed in the next six months is a speed limit evaluation for Highway 395 between Muller Lane and Highway 88.

Long-term changes to acceleration and deceleration lanes at Mica Drive, South Sunridge Drive, Silver City RV Resort, Johnson Lane and Genoa Lane would be done in the next three years.

Nevada Department of Transportation traffic engineer Coy Peacock said the improvements are as important as the more long-term plans that extend to 2030.

"These are the improvements that people will see coming out of the study instead of waiting years for something to happen," he said.

For instance, a truck climbing lane on the northbound side of the highway between Mica and Sunridge drives would allow large trucks to climb the hill without backing up traffic.

South of Gardnerville, the state is reviewing a request by the Washoe Tribe to install a center turn lane on Highway 395 at the tribe's headquarters.

Any projects involving altering the lanes would have to go through the state's project development process.

Douglas County would then have to submit an application for each project and they would be built as funding becomes available.