Granite
Granite bags $50m contract to widen highway US 50 in Silver Springs, Nevada. Credit: Regulator78.

Granite Construction has won a $50m highway improvement contract from the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) for the US 50 Silver Springs project in Silver Springs.

The infrastructure company will include the contract in its fourth quarter 2018 backlog.

Granite will construct eight miles of multilane, divided highway, which will include a frontage road.

The project also requires the firm to work on replacing the four-way stop in Silver Springs with a roundabout, just as the ones at Highway 50 and USA Parkway.

“The project aims to boost drivers’ safety by separating the opposing lanes of travel while cutting the number of occurrences of cross traffic.”

With the construction of a roundabout, it becomes possible to manage the increased traffic on the road.

Drivers’ safety can be improved by separating the opposing lanes of travel whilst reducing cross traffic with a frontage road.

Granite will also be responsible for installing livestock fencing on both sides of the highway. This is essential to keep local wildlife away from traffic lanes, thereby reducing the number of collisions.

From 2012 to 2016, around 115 horse-related accidents occurred in total on all roads in the Virginia Range area, according to rgj.com.

Construction of the project is expected to commence in the first quarter of next year and is scheduled for completion in early 2020.

Nearly 6,000 drivers are expected to be benefited each day due to reduced travel time.