Headaches continue on Interstate 80 to and from USA Parkway

Christy Lattin
08/01/2025 05:00 AM

Cars and trucks aren’t the only things overheating on Interstate 80 – tempers are flaring. Almost every day, residents are posting their frustrations about the commute to and from the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center and its main artery USA Parkway.

The TRIC website states it’s the largest industrial park in the world and lists several well-known companies as tenants. However, the thousands of vehicles hitting Interstate 80 at the same time to take employees to and from jobs at TRIC are creating frequent traffic jams and vehicle accidents.

The Fernley-Reno Commute Facebook group is a frequent sounding board for the traffic snarls. There are posts, almost daily, of people asking how the traffic flow is, and what accidents ahead are causing traffic standstills.

Westbound traffic is especially congested at shift change time with commuters trying to merge onto the Interstate from USA Parkway and Patrick and during peak traffic periods, the commute from Fernley to Reno takes more than an hour.

Commuters often ask why USA Parkway employers don’t stagger shifts so that everyone isn’t on I-80 at the same time and complain that the cities and counties have allowed growth to overburden the infrastructure. Others wish for a commuter train to and from USA Parkway.

A glimpse of posts from the last month – taken from the Storey County Sheriff’s Office and the Fernley-Reno Commute Facebook pages – show an average of 18 traffic-halting incidents between July 7 and July 28 nearly one per day adding to the persistent frustration.

The Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, 2024 Annual Report, lists the Traffic Safety Enforcement Programs undertaken from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024. There were several “safety enforcement” and “speed enforcement” programs done in specific communities like Henderson, Sparks and Nye County but none were earmarked for Storey, Lyon or Washoe counties or the stretch of Interstate 80 that spans from Fernley to USA Parkway.

The Nevada Department of Transportation’s I-80 Widening Project between Vista Blvd. in Sparks and USA Parkway is currently in the Environmental Approval phase until September, followed by the Final Design phase from now until Sept. 2027, with construction expected from 2027 to 2031. More information on the project can be found at i80eastnv.com.