NDOT proposes new traffic signals, speed limit reduction as part of U.S. 50 plan
Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
The Nevada Department of transportation is proposing two new traffic signals and a reduction in the speed limit on a stretch of U.S. 50 in Dayton as part of its U.S. 50 Dayton Preservation Project.
Darin Tedford, Deputy Director of Administration for NDOT, presented the plan with the proposed changes for the U.S. 50 corridor in Dayton at the Sept. 21 meeting of the Lyon County Commission.
In 2021, NDOT began an operational study of the area between Pine Cone Road and Bryce/Chaves Road. Based on the study findings and discussions with community stakeholders, NDOT proposed the following improvements for the Highway 50 East of Dayton Preservation Project:
· Pavement preservation and maintain two lanes in each direction
· New traffic signals at Cardelli Road and Six Mile Canyon Road
· 11-foot-wide travel lanes and 6-inch-wide roadway striping
· Speed reduction to 45 mph from Fortune Drive to Six Mile Canyon Road
· Median installation for traffic calming and access management
NDOT plans for construction on the US-50 Dayton Preservation Project to begin in Spring of 2026. NDOT also plans to host public information meetings and community outreach for the project.
Tedford said lowering the speed limit alone will not have the effect constituents are hoping for and it may cause additional problems. He said highway design with speed limit reductions will have greater impact to slow down traffic, if that’s the goal.
Commissioners discussed the trade-offs between speed limit and travel lane reductions compared to controlled access and widened lanes. Lyon County will continue discussions with NDOT as they try to address traffic safety on US-50.
Lyon County Lands Bill
County Manager Andrew Haskin, in coordination with Jeremy Drew, Principal Resource Specialist with Resource Concepts, Inc. (RCI) presented a draft lands bill map identifying 2,632 acres for potential acquisition and an additional 3,418 acres for future conveyance to Lyon County to be used for infrastructure projects such as roads and flood mitigation. For all land proposed for conveyance in the Lands Bill, Lyon County will have to pay fair market value for the purchase. A motion to direct staff to continue working on lands bill and to support the City of Fernley’s land requests for the Tahoe Reno Industrial area passed unanimously.
The Lyon County BOCC also took action on the following items:
· Adopted a resolution in support of the City of Fernley’s litigation regarding the Truckee Canal.
· Approved a Memorandum of Understanding between Lyon County and Mineral County to allow Lyon County to provide a maximum of 24 hours per month of a Building Inspector to provide inspection services for FY24 with corrections in the contract language as presented by the Lyon County Community Development Director during the meeting.
· Passed a Resolution to approve the Proposed Final Conditional Stipulation as part of the settlement resolving the water right claims of the Walker River Paiute Tribe and the United State of America and authorized legal counsel, in consultation with the Lyon County Manager, to take all reasonable action necessary to implement the Stipulation, including any necessary modifications to the Walker River Decree.
· Approved the purchase of a Central Ballot Scanning System with shipping in the amount not to exceed $28,859 to be funded from a budget transfer from General Fund contingency. A motion to approve the purchase passed 4 in support (Keller, Jacobson, Henderson, Hockaday) and 1 opposed (Hendrix).
The complete agenda and back up materials are posted online at www.lyon-county.org/Agendacenter.
For more information, visit https://www.lyon-county.org/ and follow https://www.facebook.com/LyonCountyNV. Residents can view recordings of previous Board of County Commission meetings on the Lyon County YouTube Channel.
