Drivers who frequent Mill Street in Reno are likely excited that the Mill Street Capacity and Safety Project is now complete. Construction took a little more than a year, beginning in April of 2025.
Some of the major benefits of the project included a reduction in congestion by widening the road to have multiple lanes in both directions and improving safety for pedestrians and bikers.
“If you've ever been on Mill Street, you know that this road can be backed up,” said Alexis Hill, the Chair of the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County. “In the past, that pedestrians would have a hard time negotiating, getting across the street, and it just wasn't an attractive corridor in a way that it should have been with all of the electrical lines.”
The electrical lines were moved underground, which was a big reason for the time and the cost of the project. However, it was completed on time and on budget. All $31 million was funded entirely by tax dollars that come from the Washoe County fuel tax. $15 million alone went to the construction costs of the project.
Executive Director of RTC, Bill Thomas called the project complex, and said crews continually ran into unexpected challenges due to the age of the corridor.
Another major addition was the new traffic light at the intersection of Golden Lane and Mill Street.
“The addition of Golden Lane Intersection was sort of a late addition that was really important to this corridor to really help improve access,” said Project Manager Kim Diegle. “There was a lot of coordination during design with all of the, private utilities and NV Energy to underground all the power poles.”
Though the actual construction only took about one year, the design phase began back in 2013.
To learn more about the project, visit this link: RTC Mill Street Capacity and Safety Project
The Mill Street Capacity and Safety Project began in 2013 with the design phase and cost taxpayers 31 million dollars, all collected from the Washoe County Fuel Tax.
