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RTC Workshop on Virginia Street Designs Draws Conflicting Opinions

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The end result of Midtown’s Virginia Street’s new designs is going to make some folks unhappy.

Portions of the street are limited by a fixed, narrow width, which means those advocating for bike traffic in the form of separate bike lanes are competing with those who would rather have vehicle parking and the ability to make left-hand turns on Virginia Street.

“Businesses rank wide sidewalks and parking as top considerations,” said the Regional Transportation Commission’s Senior Engineer Howard Riedl at a public workshop held Thursday at the Discovery Museum. “There are competing needs and we want input on that.”

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Alternate design C, for Virginia Street between Mt. Rose and Vassar, allows for bike lanes but it significantly restricts the ability for left-hand turns.

Three different design options for Virginia Street between Mt. Rose to Vassar presented varying degrees of left-turn restrictions and wider or narrower sidewalks.

To date, Riedl said, the existing design alternatives were chosen based on more than 150 comments received since the last meeting in April.

There’s only so much space, and buildings will not be torn down, he added.

RTC is soliciting for more public comments and input via an online survey. The survey, however, combines both the Midtown District designs and Virginia Street designs along UNR, which means those taking the survey are prompted to rank both sets of design alternatives.

Based on comments and survey results, Riedl said that the next step would be to present a design to the Reno City Council.

Bob Conrad
Bob Conradhttp://thisisreno.com
Bob Conrad is publisher, editor and co-founder of This Is Reno. He has served in communications positions for various state agencies and earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2011. He is also a part time instructor at UNR and sits on the boards of the Nevada Press Association and Nevada Open Government Coalition.

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