A Pahrump Valley roadway that provides access to both Death Valley National Park and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is expected to receive nearly $34 million in federal grants for widening and repavement.
Bell Vista Avenue begins in the valley and runs westward to Warren Street, where it curves slightly north and becomes Bob Ruud Memorial Highway. The highly trafficked corridor is a main thoroughfare between Pahrump and Amargosa Valley.
It’s a road that Nye County officials have wanted to improve for years, but with the typical costs of road construction coming in at more than $1 million per mile, improvements weren’t possible without outside funding.
But now, officials say they have secured money for the project from the Federal Lands Access Program, an agency which supplements state and local resources for public roads, transit systems and transportation facilities.
“The purpose of this project is to improve access to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and Death Valley National Park along Bob Ruud Memorial Highway and Bell Vista Avenue from Highway 160 to the California state line,” Federal Lands Access Program Manager and Federal PDC Rep. James Herlyck said in a letter to local transportation officials earlier this month, which detailed the funding.
The Bob Ruud Memorial Highway portion of the project is being priortized, according to transportation officials. The segment tentatively includes rehabilitation and paving of 15 miles of Bell Vista Road. The roadway will be 28 feet in width and include 12-foot travel lanes in each direction with 2-foot shoulders. There will be improvements to drainage, as well.
Rehab and paving will target all 5.6 miles of Bell Vista Avenue running from Highway 160 to Warren Street.
The more than 20-mile project will cost about $35.8 million.
The Federal Lands Access Program grant will cover nearly $34 million of the project. Nye County is expected to provide about $1.8 million.
Construction is expected to begin in 2024.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com.