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Roundabout delayed until spring ’98

DAN FOSCALINA

It looks as if roundabout construction will be delayed until next year.

Jon Lander, town engineer, said Caltrans and the town have been trying to settle where to cut an access road to a sliver of property owned by the McIver family. The McIver property – part of which the roundabout and western undercrossing will sit on – is located north of West River Street, south of Interstate 80 and just west of Commercial Row.

“We don’t have an agreement yet, so I can’t proceed with construction,” Lander said. “We are working on it but time is running out for us to construct it this year.”



Lander said he hopes to have the agreement ironed out with Caltrans to begin construction by March before Union Pacific rail traffic is expected to increase in town.

The access road route preferred by town officials infringes on Caltrans’ right-of-way south of I-80, Lander said. Another alternative, however, involves cutting the road through more than 50 feet of ground, he said.



Building the access road on Caltrans property involves excavating 11,000 yards of dirt, while the alternative requires removing more than 40,000 yards, he added.

The roundabout will be positioned on Donner Pass Road just south of the Central Truckee I-80 exit.

A road extending west from the roundabout will curve south through the McIver property, pass under the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and join West River Street near Networks Plus in the Truckee Business Park.

UP is responsible for constructing the $1 million undercrossing, which must be completed before roundabout construction can begin.

Construction was originally scheduled to begin June 15.


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