Lane closures at bottom of Spooner Summit next week

Nighttime lane closures will be in place over the coming week on South Carson Street and U.S. 50 near Spooner junction for the Nevada Department of Transportation’s Carson City Freeway project.

Lane closures and reduced speed limits will be in place on both South Carson Street and U.S. 50 in the Spooner junction area beginning Sunday, June 19 from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The closures are anticipated to last for approximately one week.

Crews will be constructing a drainage culvert underneath the freeway. During freeway construction, the culvert will house a conveyor system which will be used to move nearly 600,000 cubic yards of earth from the construction site to a gravel storage pit. Running underneath the freeway, the conveyor system will not interfere with traffic when installed. The conveyor system will alleviate the need to transport the earth across South Carson Street by truck, eliminating months of potential traffic delays and impact. After freeway construction completes, the culvert will become part of the roadway’s extensive storm water system to help convey water more efficiently and safely.

The work is part of the approximate $42 million Carson City Freeway Phase 2B-3 project by contractor Road and Highway Builders to pave and open the last approximately four miles of the freeway to traffic between Fairview Drive and the Spooner/U.S. 50 junction in south Carson City. The project is expected to complete, opening the final segment of freeway to traffic, in 2017.

With funding from federal transportation funds, the state highway fund and Carson City, the project is aimed at increasing traffic mobility and safety with an interstate bypass alternative to help remove through-traffic congestion from downtown Carson City. An estimated 43,000 vehicles daily are projected to use the section of freeway by 2035.