Bus traffic irks center neighbors

Constant traffic, speeding and congestion are just a few of the complaints from Meadow Lane residents in Gardnerville when it comes to Douglas Area Rural Transit buses traveling to and from the Douglas County Senior Center.

The buses, which run from Topaz Lake to Wal-Mart, start up about 4:30 a.m. and don't stop until evening, said Dale Bohlman, a resident on this otherwise quiet residential block adjacent to the senior center.

"It's not proper on a dead-end street in a residential district and there are more buses all the time," Bohlman said. "They park up to 25 vehicles in the Senior Center parking lot and they just added more."

Twelve county vans and buses were scattered throughout the Senior Center parking lot on a Wednesday afternoon, while two or three passed through the neighborhood in a short timespan.

Four new 20-passenger buses were just added to the fleet, according to a small article in The Senior Spirit newsletter.

In the winter, the diesel buses start warming up just outside the Bohlmans' bedroom window about 4:30 a.m. They also had to chain off one paved driveway because county vehicles were using it to turn around and were ruining it, Bohlman said.

"We get a steady stream all day long," he said.

The problems have been ongoing for about two years and are getting worse, according to Meadow Lane resident Ben Vassar.

During peak hours the traffic is bumper-to-bumper. Operating a popular senior center at the end of a dead-end street is unsafe because it provides no outlet other than Meadow Lane. Seniors often have trouble manipulating their way through the parking lot at lunch, Vassar said.

He advocates development of a new senior center.

"The county is buying the DMV building for $810,000," he said. "Where are the county's priorities? Us old-timers are paying the taxes, but the county doesn't care about us."

Bohlman started a petition among Meadow Lane neighbors about two years ago and almost everyone on the street signed it. The petition was sent to county commissioners and County Manager Dan Holler, but the effort got little or no response, he said.

Tom Cook, a member of the Gardnerville Town Board, said the buses need to go elsewhere.

"When the buses first started parking there, we thought they were just for the seniors," he said. "I have no problem with that, but now every bus in the area is parked there."

Safety is an issue and it would be better if the buses were at the airport under lock and key, Cook said.

Scott Morgan, Douglas County's Community Services Director, said efficiency and the cost of operations are the main reasons the Senior Center is used as DART's operation hub.

"The ultimate solution, finding a new spot for the Senior Center, isn't going to happen soon," Morgan said. "So we're looking at immediate short-term options, to see if there is a way to move DART from the Senior Center."

DART uses existing staff at Douglas County's Senior Center to operate the program, which is also subsidized by federal and state funding, but in recent years funding has dropped.

"Initially, we operated the DART program at no cost to Douglas County residents using only federal and state grants," Morgan said. "But over the last two years the county has spent $45,000 to $50,000 a year. That's still amazingly low for a public transportation program."

In addition to providing a fixed bus route, DART provides Meals on Wheels to outlying areas like Topaz and Stateline. Special arrangements for everything from medical appointments to shopping are provided with 24-hours notice and transportation ridership has increased by 13 percent over the past year, according to DART staff.

Officials will be seeking solutions to the issues during at a Jan. 14 Senior Services Advisory Committee meeting.

• Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.