Freeway design in flux, roundabouts for Arrowhead.

Two roundabouts are included in a new design for the interchange at Arrowhead Drive.

Although construction should start on the freeway by April, the design is still changing.

The new design for the road includes two roundabouts, which officials hope will reduce traffic to the residential area on Arrowhead Drive. The change is expected to save almost $1.3 million.

Freeway Project Manager Jim Gallegos said Phase 1B is about 30 percent designed and the roundabout idea is preliminary. A public review of the design is scheduled tentatively for Feb. 15.

City supervisors will have to approve the plan before it can be implemented.

Carson City Deputy City Manager Dan St. John said lowering traffic through the residential area has been a priority. The roundabout design would discourage truck traffic from using Arrowhead Drive.

"Trucks like a nice straight shot, and this won't be a straight shot," St. John said.

The design also saves right of way by bringing the on- and off-ramps into a straighter line.

The Arrowhead intersection would be a "half interchange," where northbound traffic can exit onto Arrowhead and southbound traffic enters the freeway from Arrowhead.

Southbound traffic can't exit onto Arrowhead. Once on Arrowhead, there is no northbound ramp to the freeway. The roundabouts would take the place of stop lights at those two intersections.

Motorists wanting to continue north would have to double back to the full interchange at College Parkway.

Roundabouts also open access to parcels of land that would otherwise be locked in by roads.

"A parcel of land without access isn't worth anything," St. John said. "This maximizes the development potential of parcels on North Carson Street."

Department of Transportation officials will award the bid for Phase 1A of the freeway in the next couple of weeks. Frehner Construction of Las Vegas had the apparent low bid for the project at $14 million. Phase IA of the project includes bridges over College Parkway, Emerson Drive, Northgate Lane and Arrowhead Drive.

Bids for the $80 million Phase 1B of the freeway's northern leg should be posted in February 2001.

Construction is scheduled on the northern leg, which extends from Lakeview Hill to Highway 50, from 2000 to 2003. The second freeway leg from Highway 50 east to the Spooner Summit Junction has a $160 million price tag, and as of yet no funding. Construction is expected to begin on the southern leg in 2004 and to finish in 2007.

What: Arrowhead roundabout design

When: 7 p.m. Feb. 15

Where: Community Center's Bonanza Room, 851 E. William St.

Info: 887-2355