The RTC (Regional Transportation Commission) hosted a public hearing on the Sparks Boulevard Project last week at Lena Juniper Elementary School in Sparks. Not many people showed up to the in-person meeting, but the RTC has all the same information posted to SparksBoulevardProject.com and a lot of people have been interacting through that.
“The public hearing went well; we had good attendance between that and people engaging and commenting through the website,” said RTC Project Manager Jeff Wilbrecht.
Nelson said that some of the main questions that were brought up at last week’s meeting were about some trees that may need to be removed and landscaping, enhancing the multimodal features such as making safer bike paths, and housing.
“One of the questions asked was whether any houses would be taken out for this project, and the answer is no,” says RTC Government Affairs Officer Paul Nelson. “There is no right-of-way acquisition included in this project,” he adds.
RTC representatives explained the multimodal enhancements would be primarily adding a bike path and possibly realigning it to enhance safe travel.
“There were questions about the timing of the work between this project and the Pyramid Highway connector, and we’re making sure that those two projects will not happen at the same time,” Wilbrecht adds. He added that the RTC is already ahead of schedule on the Sparks Boulevard Project by completing assessments around Greg Street, and they are focusing now on the area around Lincoln Way and north Baring Boulevard. Wilbrecht says that there were also questions about the soundwalls and the North Truckee Drain.
“There were some rumors going around that we were boxing in the North Truckee Drain, and that is not going to happen. We’re ensuring the hydrology and flow of the water and looking at extending the drain box up by Baring Boulevard,” Wilbrecht says. He also reiterated that they are not taking any homes as part of this project.
The formal public comment period for the Sparks Boulevard Project Environmental Assessment is open through May 5 and then the RTC will work with NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) and FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) to appropriately address the comments.
“This is part of the NEPA process and following federal guidelines and regulations to make sure we are not causing undo harm to the environment,” Wilbrecht says. “We will work to find significant impacts and if there are none provided and we meet concurrence, then the project advances to the final design stage. Then we’ll be ready to go when the Pyramid connector is complete,” he adds.
The Pyramid Highway Project is set to break ground on May 1 and construction is expected to take place through the end of 2024/early 2025. (Visit pyramidhighway.com for details.)
“The purpose of the Sparks Boulevard Project is to provide congestion relief and improve multimodal use. This is a public project that is publicly funded, and we truly value the feedback and commentary from the community. We appreciate people reaching out with their curiosity and engagement,” Wilbrecht adds.
For more information about the Sparks Boulevard Project or to send your comments before May 5, visit SparksBoulevardProject.com.
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