Project engineer Wes Osmer stands next to one of the last construction signs along Main Street in Gardnerville on Monday.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.

With the full reopening of Main Street through Gardnerville on August 23, a frustrating half-hour drive became one that took six minutes each way.

There may still be some finishing work to be done, such as the installation of a flashing pedestrian crossing, which began in KingsLane late last week.

“We’re still waiting on the rectangular beacon arm for KingsLane,” project manager Wes Osmer said Monday. “We’re working with the right of way and trying to make everything fit, so we decided to go with this big mast.”

Completion of the sidewalk south of Kings Lane has long been a goal for the City of Gardnerville, as has connecting drainage to the basin beneath Gardnerville Station and then on to Martin Slough.

The cramped conditions were one of the major problems that Sierra Nevada Construction and the state had to solve during the project.

“The reason it’s so difficult here is because it’s U.S. 395 and we don’t have much right of way,” he said. “It’s just very congested and that’s been the biggest problem.”

A second phase of the project will involve further improvements to sidewalks and accessibility, as well as improving the remaining roadway drainage, signals and lighting.

Osmer said the goal is to implement these improvements for Minden and Gardnerville.

“We’re working on a grant in partnership with Main Street, Douglas and the city,” he said. “We could try to build the entire corridor, not just the Gardnerville side and the Minden side.”

Speaking of the Minden side, at some point in the near future, the state plans to repave Highway 395 from Ironwood Drive to Carson City, including Airport Road.

“I don’t think it will be that bad,” he said. “It depends on what we have to do on Cradlebaugh. That’s still uncertain.”

Work on the motorway has been underway since autumn 2023. The major reconstruction work began on June 12 and lasted until last week.