Padlocked gate greets Fort Churchill Road users

DAYTON -- Fort Churchill Road is blocked by a green metal gate with a padlock.

Lyon County claims the road is public right-of-way, but a man with a shovel over his shoulder had something else to say.

"You know you're on private property," he said Monday morning. "You're trespassing. You'd better get moving."

When asked to comment on closing the road, the man declined.

"Nope, I'm a private person," he said.

The dirt road connects Highway 50 with Highway 95 Alternate at Fort Churchill. It is the primary access for workers at the Nevada Test Center, located about halfway between Fort Churchill and Dayton. The gate is a little more than a mile east of Highway 50.

The other access is Break-A-Heart Road, which goes directly from Highway 50 to the test center -- and earns its name, according to one worker.

Fort Churchill Road has been blocked on and off for two weeks. The latest blockage was Thursday when a pickup was parked across the road. By that afternoon, the gate was up.

Lyon County claims the Fort Churchill Road is a county route and sought to reopen it.

Lyon County Assistant District Attorney Steve Rye said the road was once a state highway.

"The county believes that this is a public road, and it has been maintained by the county," he said. "Everyone I've talked to says that road has been open since they can remember."

Rye said he served property owner Dan O'Callaghan with notice to open the road on April 30, and the road was cleared shortly afterwards.

"A week later, he re-gated the road," Rye said.

Lyon County Commissioner Bob Milz said the county will turn the issue over to Lyon District Court to make the determination.

"Unfortunately, this fella thinks that since he bought the property, he can do whatever he feels like doing," Milz said. "That is not the case. There are proper procedures to follow. If he wanted to close the road, he should have gone to the judge. He didn't do that so we're going to do it for him."

Milz said the county has maintained the road for at least 34 years, since the state gave it up.

"People have been using that road to go to work, and we have no intention to close it," he said.