For those of you who come and go at the Reno-Stead Airport via Lemmon Drive-Military Road, a major construction project is starting on July 12 that will cause some inconvenience for about a year. While it does not specify in the info below, there is a planned winter shutdown December, 2021 – February, 2022.
Here are the details from RTC:
“The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Washoe County will begin construction on phase one of the Lemmon Drive Project on July 12th. Phase one of the Lemmon Drive Project will widen Lemmon Drive from four lanes to six lanes from Sky Vista Parkway/Buck Drive to Military Road (the area shown in orange).
To safely complete construction activities, drivers can anticipate lane shifts and shoulder closures on Lemmon Drive from Sky Vista/Buck Drive intersection to Military Road.
The project will increase capacity, improve safety, and provide multimodal transportation choices. The new roadway design will improve traffic flow with longer left-turn lane queues from southbound Lemmon Drive to Buck Drive and northbound Lemmon Drive to Military Road, and a new diverging-diamond interchange at US 395 and Lemmon Drive.
To improve safety for everyone, a continuous raised median will prevent left turns into or out of businesses, and reduce crashes and vehicle conflicts. In addition, U-turn movements will be accommodated at approximately 1,000 feet north of Sky Vista Parkway.
For pedestrians and bicyclists, the design includes a separated, 10-foot-wide, shared-use path along the west side of Lemmon Drive, and an adjoining sidewalk along the east side and bike lanes in both directions.
The community is invited to learn more about the final design, anticipated construction operations and schedule, and project improvements. A new project information video, newsletter and text alert sign-ups are available at NorthValleysImprovements.com/lemmon-drive. Project updates during construction are available by subscribing to the newsletter or texting “Lemmon” to 797979.
Construction on phase one is anticipated to take approximately one year to complete. Construction operations are weather dependent and subject to change. This project represents a $20 million investment in our community funded with fuel tax funds. Q&D Construction is the contractor for the project.”
I know that a lot of us use this route to/from 395, so please take extra care and plan some extra time. As an alternate, we can use Stead Blvd to/from 395, but I suspect a lot of other people and trucks might have the same idea, so caution all around.
As always, share with people that will benefit from having a heads up before they come out to RTS for a visit or to fly.
Mike Scott
Reno-Stead Airport
775-328-6573