The SouthEast Connector is a major arterial roadway that will eventually tie Sparks and south Reno together, and construction of Phase 2 of the project is in full-swing. Once completed, Veterans Parkway will connect to Sparks Blvd. between South Meadows Parkway and Greg Street. Phase 1 of the 5.5-mile road was completed in July, 2014, but many environmental and legal questions remained before the final 4.5 miles could be built. In July of 2015, construction began on Phase 2. Now, about two miles are under construction between Clean Water Way and Mira Loma Drive.
"This will be another north/south connection to help move traffic throughout our community," Garth Oksol, Project Manager for the SouthEast Connector said.
Much of the construction is happening on Rosewood Lakes Golf Course, where one of five bridges will be built. Two others have already been constructed as part of Phase 1, including the Veterans Memorial Bridge that spans the Truckee River. The six-lane road is expected to open in late 2017.
"A lot of earth work, a lot of environmental care is being done and then we do have two winters within that time period, that obviously, we have to slow down a little bit for what we're doing with construction," Oksol said.
The weather does play a role in how much work can be done. 200-250 people will work on the project during the summer months. Right now, only about 100 people are on the job on a daily basis.
"Obviously, when there's snow on the ground, and we get a lot of moisture, we've got to change our operations a little bit, but the nice thing is that we're still able to do construction throughout the winter time and that's just helping keep people employed," Oksol said.
The completion of the road has faced many challenges, including a lawsuit filed by the Upper South East Communities Coalition that wanted to block the project. The group feared environmental hazards like flooding and mercury contamination could have negative consequences. Despite litigation, construction continued and the suit was dismissed in November.
"It was really just vindication that the work we had done met all of the requirements from the federal level and that we did everything properly," Oksol said. "The judges saw that and it was a relief for the team to just know that we had done what we said we're going to do."
Oksol says Phase 2 includes several environmental upgrades, including an 80 acre wetland complex that will naturally clean contaminated water from the Yori Drain, restoration of a 90-acre riparian corridor along Steamboat Creek, and the planting of 600 trees. Since July, crews have already removed 469 million pounds of invasive weeds. Most of it is white top and infested soil. 3.8 million pounds of trash has also been removed.
"That was anything from old box spring mattresses, car parts, barrels of stuff, just a tremendous amount of trash was out here, laying underneath the weeds that people may not see from the road," Oksol said.
A 10-foot multi-use path will run along the road, for people to walk, run or bike. Oksol says the entire project is beneficial, especially the road.
"It's going to really greatly alleviate congestion, not only that we have today on a lot of the arterial roadways that we have down in south Reno, but also to help get traffic out of Sparks," Oksol said.
The public is invited to an open house at the Best Western Airport Plaza Hotel, from 11am to 7pm, Thursday.Â
Starting this month, people can also sign up for guided tours of the project. Those are offered every fourth Thursday of the month, weather-permitting.
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