South Carson Street open house Wednesday

Carson City is holding a public open house Wednesday to discuss the future of South Carson Street.

The city will soon be taking over the road from the state and plans to redesign it into a complete street — optimized for pedestrian and bicycle traffic as well as cars.

There will be a presentation on the project by city staff, who’s looking for input from residents, starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center.

Once the freeway bypass to Spooner Junction opens, sometime this summer, South Carson Street from Fairview Drive to Snyder Avenue will be handed to the city.

As part of the deal, Carson City will receive $5.1 million from the Nevada Department of Transportation, money already set aside by NDOT to repave the road, and construction must start by 2019.

In the meantime, the city has a lot of design work to do.

It’s producing a conceptual design and cost estimates, being done by consultant Kimley-Horn and funded by the Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Traffic on the road is expected to drop by about half, from 45,000 cars daily to between 20,000 and 25,000, once freeway drivers can bypass it.

That means the city will likely reduce the road to five lanes, two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane, and add features that allow safe passage for bike riders and walkers.

Comments on the project can also be submitted to Comments@CarsonAreaMPO.com or Carson Area MPO, 3505 Butti Way, Carson City, 89701 or by calling 887-2355.

The open house will be open from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The Community Center is at 851 E. William St.