On Wednesday night at the Redhawk Golf and Resort Events Center, the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County held a public meeting on the future of the Northeastern Connector Project.Â
RTC researched areas east of Sparks, through I-80 toward the Tri-City area.Â
This research was just based on the feasibility of the project, as there is no allocated funding for it yet. Establishing an alternate route east would alleviate congestion that many drivers see on I-80.Â
"A lot of people experience a crash almost every other day. There's a lot of slowdowns, and there's a need to provide some reliable and consistent commuting for our community," said Amanda Callegari, RTC Engineering Manager.Â
The proposed routes resulting from research include multiple connections to USA Parkway, and one from La Posada straight to I-80, following east through the Tahoe-Reno industrial area.Â
"We found roughly about 10% of that traffic would come off of I-80 and use this program. Another thing that we also found was that 85% of the commuters who live in the Reno-Sparks area are north of 80," said Dale Keller, RTC Deputy Executive Officer.Â
The project is still in very early stages. RTC will be fielding public comment and hosting conversations on its website.Â
