The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County and the University of Nevada invited neighbors to learn more about their University Gateway Transportation Project on Wednesday.
They said this project is still in the early stages of planning and wanted to hear more of what the community feels.
Officials said this is a collaborative project between the City of Reno, R.T.C., and the University of Nevada to improve the traffic flow around the university's campus.
They said many pedestrian deaths and serious injuries have happened on the surrounding roads of the campus, and this project will help reduce that.
Devon Reese, City Council Member and Vice Chair of R.T.C., told us, "This project's pretty organic because it's really driven by the City of Reno, the RTC, and the University working in partnership to figure out how to get people to and from campus more safely, how do they navigate the university environment and downtown."
Officials say this project is estimated to cost between $60 to $90 million.
They said they will be looking for local, state, and federal funding, and depending on that, the construction window will be from 2029 to 2030.
Officials said they plan to add a safe and accessible connection across the interstate that will link the campus and downtown Reno.
They say potential improvements include enhancing pedestrian and bicyclist facilities along Ninth Street and the Evans Avenue Bridge.
They also hope to redesign Evans Park and upgrade the lighting and landscape to improve visibility and safety.
Kim Diegle, Project Manager with R.T.C., said, "Look at the safety issues and of just the general network and connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists and vehicular traffic through this end of campus as it's growing."
We did get the chance to speak to people who attended the event, and they say a lot of it falls on both pedestrians and drivers.
They say they walk through the area on a regular basis and although they feel safe themselves, they understand in many cases others may not.
They hope that this project serves the purpose officials say it will, and won't just add to the "prettiness" of the university to persuade more new students to enroll.
Rich Parks a neighbor in the area, said, "There's the blinking yellow light up by Manzanita Lake, you know, according to state law, if there's a yellow blinking your suppose to be looking out for people at the crosswalk, and people just zip right through there as if nothing. They don't see anything."
Officials said events like this are helpful because they get to present their plans to neighbors and get feedback from what they say is need.
They said the support from the community during this stage helps get the project moving forward.
