Builder Needed
For years now, every time I would drive south from Reno on highway 395 and pass through the Pleasant Valley area, I would look west toward the spot where some sort of gigantic road construction project was obviously going on, most notably the construction of a huge bridge over Galena Creek in the foothills of the Sierra, and I would wonder just what the hell was going on up there. Strangely enough, while almost everyone I know had seen and taken note of the enormous bridge being built, no one I ever asked about it seemed to have any idea what this huge project was or why a gigantic bridge was being built seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Today my questions are answered. First off, this bridge is apparently part of the I-580 Freeway project, underway since 2003. It's truly amazing that so few people know anything about this effort, which is designed to speed up the trip between Reno and Carson City by completely bypassing Pleasant Valley. This is a good and necessary idea, as it not only takes forever to drive through Pleasant Valley, but this residential stretch of 395 is infamous for killer traffic accidents.
Of course, since this is Reno the news today is all about delays and increased costs. Last week NDOT announced that it had terminated the contract with the bridge builder over safety concerns expressed by the builder (concerns for the safety of construction workers building the structure, not for the safety of whomever will someday use the bridge). Right now officials are scrambling to find a new builder. It's unknown how much this will drive up the costs of the $80 million project, or how long it will delay the scheduled 2009 completion date.
Oh well. At least I finally know what's going on out there.
Today my questions are answered. First off, this bridge is apparently part of the I-580 Freeway project, underway since 2003. It's truly amazing that so few people know anything about this effort, which is designed to speed up the trip between Reno and Carson City by completely bypassing Pleasant Valley. This is a good and necessary idea, as it not only takes forever to drive through Pleasant Valley, but this residential stretch of 395 is infamous for killer traffic accidents.
Of course, since this is Reno the news today is all about delays and increased costs. Last week NDOT announced that it had terminated the contract with the bridge builder over safety concerns expressed by the builder (concerns for the safety of construction workers building the structure, not for the safety of whomever will someday use the bridge). Right now officials are scrambling to find a new builder. It's unknown how much this will drive up the costs of the $80 million project, or how long it will delay the scheduled 2009 completion date.
Oh well. At least I finally know what's going on out there.
posted by Yukon Sully | 10:26 AM
6 Comments:
If you have to travel between Reno and Carson City from time to time, you definitely know all about it. It cant be completed fast enough for those folks. Reid got us the money for that project....its also the project where one of the workers was killed in an accident. I think he rolled his bull dozer or something like that.
That project, if I recall correctly, was originally "started" in 1994 with a 14 year timetable. That's not the construction of that particular bridge, but the whole thing, like the freeway in carson. That's a part of it, and if I'm not crazy, it'll extend to the south of Carson where the highway goes into the valley. I'll bet Scott Schrantz knows a ton about it.
I think the whole thing has been in the planning stages for longer than 14 years. Just like the Carson City bypass has been on the drawing board for something like 50 years, they've always had the idea of building a freeway between I-80 and the Washoe Valley. The work they're doing now is actually the fifth stage in a project that's been ongoing since the 70s (or earlier!)
First they built the 395 freeway south from I-80, and it ended somewhere around the Glendale exit. This was before my time. Like, literally before I was born. Then when I moved here in 1985 the freeway ended at Virginia Street, right by the Toys R Us. In the late 80s they built the stretch from S. Virginia to S. Virginia, that runs behind Best Buy. It used to end right where the In-N-Out Burger is. Then, in the early 90s, they extended the freeway down to where it ends now, at the Mt. Rose Hwy. That stretch opened almost exactly 10 years ago, in 1996.
That makes a total of four phases so far. Each time they finished a phase, they just left the end of the freeway hanging off into space, waiting for the next phase to pick up from there and keep heading south. And so it is right now at the Mt. Rose exit. The freeway just ends there, hanging off into space. One day (hopefully soon) they'll cut a new roadbed between there and the Galena Creek Bridge. They already have the rest of the road carved out in the hills above Washoe City, and eventually it's going to meet up with Hwy 395 in the Washoe Valley, right where the Bowers Mansion turnoff is (on the old Winters Ranch). 2009 is the projected date for the road to open, although this mess with the bridge will probably push it back.
By that time it all opens, the Carson City Freeway is supposed to be done too, and you'll be able to drive all the way from Reno to Spooner Summit without leaving the freeway. It's only been 50 years in the making, and they have at least five more before it's all done.
www.freewayextension.com/history/hist.html
And after that, it's time to start planning the Minden/Gardnerville bypass...
The nice thing about having well-informed readers is that you don't have to know so much yourself. Thanks for all the info, guys.
How does Scott Magruder have a job? Under his watch there have been 3 major gaffes in the past 2 years....
First, the concrete on the 80 project had to be replaced, delaying the project by months. Then, the McCarran overpass over 395 had to replace several major supports. And now this?
Someone needs to drop the hammer on this yahoo!
While I agree that Magruder is not a candid sort of fellow, that's his job. He's a flack whose main aim in life is to say nothing for an entire press conference.
If you're looking for someone to blame, you can start at the top with Jeff Fontaine. From there, it's a cast of thousands at NDOT, involving road designers, engineers, contract managers, safety inspectors, etc.
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