By Robert Perea
The Nevada Department of Transportation is continuing to take public comment through a virtual public meeting on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Interstate 80 East Widening Project.
NDOT officials held a public hearing in Lockwood on June 25 to explain the project, but the exhibits presented at the meeting are available through July 18 at I80EastNV.com.
At the June 25 meeting, NDOT Public Involvement Coordinator Justin Hopkins, said the project would expand the highway from Vista Blvd. in Sparks to USA Parkway. He said the project is being studied in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act commonly called NEPA, to make sure all of the potential environmental impacts are being evaluated and to get input from the public before moving forward.
“We've prepared an environmental assessment that outlines the project's purpose and need, potential impacts, proposed mitigation measures and the preferred alternative we build if the project moves ahead,” Hopkins said.
Senior Project Manager Chris Kuhn said there has been an approximate increase in traffic of 70% in the last 10 years.
“Obviously a lot of congestion because of that and a lot of crashes and operational issues,” Kuhn said. “The goal of the project is to address those issues by adding additional capacity, reconfiguring and upgrading the interchanges and by implementing safety improvements such as widened shoulders, wrong way driver detection systems and median barrier rails.”
Kuhn said the preferred alternative is to expand I-80 to three lanes in each direction between Vista and USA Parkway. He said other planned improvements to the Lockwood, Mustang and Patrick interchanges would help traffic move more efficiently and safely through the area.
“If you couldn't make it to today's public hearing, no worries,” Kuhn said. “You can review all of the details and submit your questions or comments online anytime.”
The public comment period is open 24 hours a day through 5 p.m. Friday, July 18.
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