Homestead Road still under construction in Pahrump

The $1.8 million Homestead Road rebuild project was supposed to come to a conclusion last weekend but despite reports from Nye County officials that construction would be complete as of Saturday, Feb. 24, there appears to still be much work to be done in order to finish off the project.

“Delay is probably not the right word,” Nye County Public Information Officer Arnold Knightly responded to inquiries. “The county was hopefully optimistic it would be Feb. 24 but that is not on the contractor. If you look at original timelines and events during construction, the project was scheduled to be completed on February 8. A delay of 10 days was allowed for the holidays during the project.

“Then two days for rain and two weeks for a no-cost time extension, along with the second change order for adding intersection lighting. That puts the completion date at March 6, counting Sundays. Not counting Sundays, and they have never worked on Sundays, they would have until March 25. Feb. 24 now appears to have been overly hopeful on our part.”

As of Monday, Feb. 26, the entire intersection of Gamebird Road and Homestead Road was torn up and left with a rough gravel surface over which drivers must proceed carefully. Sections of the intersection in all four directions have had all of their asphalt removed and the area has yet to receive paving.

However, bright and early Monday morning crews with Wulfenstein Construction Co., the contractor selected by the county, were busy preparing the intersection for pavement. A stretch of Homestead Road was reduced to just one lane of traffic, creating minor delays for motorists as flaggers directed traffic in one direction at a time. Tractors and workmen were in full evidence at the intersection throughout Tuesday as well.

In addition to the lack of paving at Gamebird Road, the nighttime illumination that is supposed to be placed at the intersection of Gamebird and Homestead, as well as Manse and Homestead, has not been installed as of yet. The one-mile stretch of roadway between Gamebird and Manse is also missing lane striping, with the two lanes of travel separated by small, temporary reflective strips laid down the center of the road. The bike paths for both sides of the road have also not been established.

Part of Homestead Road is currently bordered by large, open ditches on either side of the street as well. These are part of the drainage plan meant to prevent the hazardous and destructive flooding events the road had become so well-known for in the past. The ditches begin just south of Jeane Avenue and end just north of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #10054.

Knightly stated that Nye County Public Works is now fairly confident that these tasks will soon be completed and construction will wrap up toward the end of next week, March 9 or 10, a date he said the county was satisfied with.

As a final note, he also touched on the next major project for the area. “Here’s an additional little nugget for you,” Knightly reported. “The Regional Transportation Commission last week reprioritized county road projects to have Homestead from Manse to Thousandaire done next, so you may see that project soon.”

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes