Shifts are coming to a major project along U.S. Highway 95, north of Goldfield, after the new year.
Two temporary detours will be set up in the area of a relocation project of 2.5 miles of Highway 95, near Goldfield, a project delayed by weather conditions. The detours will be set up on the major artery that runs between Las Vegas and Reno while crews connect a new highway, being built just to the west, to the existing road.
“During construction of the connections of the new highway to the existing highway at both ends of the project, we will shift traffic onto temporary detours around the construction work zone,” said Lee Jacoby of Horrocks Engineering. “We originally anticipated this to happen in early to mid-December, but due to weather limitations, we will now be doing the switch the first week in January.”
An exact date to the switch hasn’t been set yet, though it will be based on weather conditions, according to Jacoby.
The highway is being relocated as part of a major mining project occurring in the Goldfield area. Gemfield Resources LLC is raising a gold mining project in the area and is working on the relocation as part of its infrastructure phase for its future mining project.
Ames Construction is the general contractor on the relocation project.
The temporary detours will allow for a two-lane road, one lane in each direction, to be in operation while crews connect the new highway to the existing road. Speeds will be reduced to 40 mph within the road project’s corridor.
Gemfield is urging motorists to “exercise caution” while driving through the construction zone.
Gemfield states that Dump Road is still temporarily closed between U.S. 95 and the dump. People should use Cemetery Road for access to the dump.
Work on the relocation of the utilities is continuing to advance.
The utilities relocation includes NV Energy moving its power poles, AT&T moving its underground fiber-optic lines, Switch moving its overhead fiber-optic lines and Esmeralda County’s work on moving its waterline.
Gemfield’s highway relocation project got underway this fall, in partnership with the Nevada Department of Transportation.
The relocation project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2020 for a gold mine enterprise expected to bring hundreds of direct and indirect jobs to the area, according to a news release from Toronto-based private equity firm Waterton Resource Management Inc., which holds Gemfield in its portfolio of companies.
For more information on the realignment project, go to bit.ly/2qnBShG
Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com on Twitter @MeehanLv