NDOT admits error in report

An error in a Nevada Department of Transportation projected projects report cause quite a stir in Pahrump the past few days.

The NDOT error on their fiscal 2016 road work program showed a roundabout being installed at the intersection of Highway 160 and 372 was reported in Friday’s edition of the Pahrump Valley Times.

The project should have been designated at Highway 372 and Pahrump Valley Boulevard.

Sondra Rosenberg, assistant director of planning for NDOT, explained that they have so many projects planned for Highway 160, that they must have overlooked the error.

Part of the error could have stemmed from the fact that Highway 160 is known as Pahrump Valley Road on state maps.

County Commissioner Dan Schinhofen said Friday that he had received an influx of calls concerning roundabouts, especially for the non-existent 160/372 project.

The two roundabouts are scheduled to be constructed on Highway 372 and the intersections of Pahrump Valley Boulevard, and Blagg Road.

The two contentious roundabouts were approved by the county commission by a 3-2 vote in September, which also green-lighted $450,000 of the county’s funding toward the cost of each roundabout.

NDOT will provide $1.8 million of funds from the Highway Safety Improvement Program funds from the Federal Highway Administration in order to construct the road projects.

The roundabouts were presented as a cheaper alternative to a traffic signal, which would cost $2 million for one at Highway 372 and Blagg.

The two roundabout projects are scheduled to go to bid in December and begin construction in spring 2016, with completion slated for fall 2016.

NDOT will hold public information meetings, provide the regional planning commission with a video and is studying the feasibility of a television campaign in the area to educate residents on roundabouts.