There are three meetings this week (that I know about) that might be of interest to Muscle Powered members and supporters.
Wednesday, December 9 is the regular monthly meeting of the Carson Area Municipal Planning Agency (CAMPO) and Regional Transportation Commission (RTC). The closure of Old Clear Creek Rd will again be on the agenda with informational item G-3.  The following meeting, on Wednesday, January 13, will have considerable impact on bicycle and pedestrian issues. Please put that January date on your calendar, and we’ll tell you more about the agenda items about a week before the meeting.

Wednesday is also a NDOT information meeting on adding a lane to Hwy 395 northbound between Jacks Valley Rd and Old Clear Creek Rd. There are two bike implications here:

  1. By widening, the highway is made even less bike friendly. I think we should ask for an informal bike path (not a multi-use path meeting federal standards) to be constructed on Vista Grande between Jacks Valley Rd and the current end of pavement behind the shopping center, a bit south of Topsy Ln. This would provide an alternate route for people going north-south, and also access to the two shopping centers without using the highway. This Vista Grande Route is shown on the bike map as a “planned principal route”, and is in the Unified Pathways Master Plan as well.
  2. As part of the project, the Lupin Dr – Hwy 395 intersection would be redone. This is the one opposite Old Clear Creek Rd, where the frontage road and Clear Creek Rd come out to the highway. This was previously designed, but I don’t know what it looks like. This intersection is currently the end of the Route 395 bike route, but it need not be since it could cross here to Old Clear Creek Rd, and then on Vista Grande, and then to the path mentioned above. Since NDOT designed this, I’d be willing to bet that they forgot to accommodate bicycles, so now is probably our last chance to get it changed.

There is a meeting announcement at http://www.nevadadot.com/pub_involvement/meetings/displaydocument.asp?MeetingDocument=395TN.htm&ID=496. Of course it doesn’t provide any diagrams or specifications. The meeting will be at Fuji Park/Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall, 4:00 to 7:00, with a formal presentation at 5:30 and information and discussion the rest of the time. This is an informational meeting, not a hearing, so there probably will not be a chance to talk to the whole group at once, but you can certainly make your views known to the NDOT people and others.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors will be having a special meeting on Thursday, December 10, to hear about the “Nevada’s Working Capital” program for redeveloping the area around the Carson Nugget. Tammy Westergard of Carson City Office of Business Development, and Sara Jones of the Carson City Library, have invited everyone to this meeting. The best way to find out more is to go the website at http://www.nevadasworkingcapital.com/. The meeting will start at 6:00PM in the Sierra Room of the Community Center.