Drivers planning to visit the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge via West Spring Meadows Road could face delays and/or road closures, as crews begin repairing the road, officials announced.
The contractor, Ahtna Design-Build Inc., expects to complete the work by Dec. 15, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in its announcement.
“Motorists are advised to use the south entrance off of Bell Vista Road when visiting the refuge,” officials said in their statement.
Those driving between Amargosa Valley and Pahrump are asked to use U.S. 95 and Nevada Highway 160.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received deferred maintenance funding to replace failing culverts, repair the low-water crossing, rebuild the road embankment, and install riprap (a layer of stones or chunks of concrete to prevent erosion) on West Spring Meadows Road.
The Service also received Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Federal Lands Highways to repair flood damage to West Spring Meadows Road.
An October 2015 flood eroded the embankment, damaged culverts, washed away surfacing and damaged 200 feet of the low-water crossing. The work includes:Rebuilding the shoulder at three culvert crossings
Replacing small culverts with larger culverts and riprap
Repairing the low-water crossing, stabilizing it with geotextile (permeable fabric) and other material
Constructing concrete cut-off walls for added protection and covering the crossing with hot mix asphalt pavement
Rebuilding the road embankment along the narrow portions of roadway from the low-water crossing to east of the Carson Slough.
The contractor may need to temporarily close West Spring Meadows Road while completing the repair work to protect the health and safety of motorists, the Fish and Wildlife Service said, adding that it would keep the public and its neighbors informed as the project moves forward.
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is approximately 30 miles northwest of Pahrump in Nye County. It was established in 1984 under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
It covers nearly 24,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and desert uplands that provide habitat for at least 26 plant and animal species that occur nowhere else in the world.
Any other changes affecting the public is to be posted on Facebook and at fws.gov/refuge/ash_meadows