Reno's roads in contention

In 2008, a number of road project in and around Reno were presented to voters, which would be funded by incremental increases in fuel taxes over the next ten years. Broadly speaking, there are six main road infrastructure projects.

These include the widening of Moana Lane, the rebuilding of Pyramid Way at the McCarran Boulevard intersection, the rebuilding of Geiger Grade/Veterans roundabout and the re-routing of Geiger Grade in the Damonte Ranch area and building a new traffic management center.

The sixth major project is the improvement of Interstate 80 through Sparks.

The cost of these projects has been budgeted at around $837 million in total and fuel taxes are expected to raise that much in funds for the local government to carry out the work. The long-term plan is simple enough on paper then, but there is much-a-do in the City Council Regional Transport Commission (RTC) over which projects should be carried out first and how to manage the budget.

The central problem, as is so often the case, revolves around rapidly increasing costs and divergences of opinion.

Some local officials want to reduce funding for Reno road projects and instead channeling more money into the larger I-80 construction, which they say is more important, more makes greater economic sense.

The chairman of the RTC and Reno councilman, Dave Aiazzi, believes that the Moana Lane widening project should be put on the back burner for now as costs have increased significantly and the project itself is controversial as it would disrupt the activity of many Reno businesses.

The project’s budget in 2008 was tabled at $23 million, but this has since increased to $36 million, $18 million of which is needed to buy the land that will be occupied by the new lanes. The current four lane road will be widened to six lanes to accommodate additional traffic flow and means that many buildings in the way need to be cleared.

Fellow councilman Dwight Dortch shares Aizzi’s concerns, he pointed out to the Reno news media that when the road projects were first presented to voters in 2008 they were touted as investments in the local economy and a means of creating jobs.

“It was our local stimulus package,” he said. “It’s going to help put people to work” but spending half the funding on buying land is “not putting anybody to work”.

“We need to make sure we’re spending money where we need to spend the money,” Dortch added, pointing out that traffic levels on Moana were not above acceptable limits, while the Interstate 80 was in need of improvements. He added that funding for the I-80 should only go ahead if it doesn’t create a shortfall for any of the other three road projects planned by the city.

Aizzi believes Reno should put more funds into the I-80 project, pointing out the Reno news media that the Nevada Department of Transport has asked for $20 million to help fund the construction, which is currently budgeted at around $70 million.

This is almost as much as what the Pyramid and McCarran project is expected to cost. Buying land for the redevelopment, which will see around 70 properties condemned, will take $23 million to $36 million, according to Dortch, while the construction costs themselves will be anywhere between $35 million to $39 million, which he believes makes it economically unfeasible.

Board members of the RTC Ron Smith, David Humke and Robert Larkin disagree.

“We have the money to do this now,” Ron Smith said, referring to the Moana widening and Pyramid and McCarran project, adding that land values will have gone up further in ten years, which may double the cost of the projects by then at a time when they’re more urgently needed due to increased traffic flow.

According to them, the Pyramid and McCarran intersection needs to be redeveloped to handle more traffic flow as a preparation for the future and investment in economic activity. Heavy traffic congestion is a significant deterrent in terms of investment as businesses will think twice about relocating to Reno or opening up a new branch here if the traffic is unreasonable.

Scott Magruder, a spokesperson for the Nevada Department of Transport has also weighed in describing the I-80 project as a “top priority” for the department, which would “definitely” be helped by funding from the RTC.