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Reno staff outline $90 million-plus slate of road, safety and transit upgrades under RTC FY27 interlocal agreement
Summary
City public works leaders told the council in a presentation that the RTC FY2027 interlocal cooperative agreement will advance more than $90 million in regional projects — from pavement preservation and signal upgrades to three major corridor builds — without requiring direct contributions from Reno’s street fund.
Reno City staff on the city podcast summarized the Regional Transportation Commission’s (RTC) fiscal year 2027 interlocal cooperative agreement, which will advance a multi-category program of transportation projects across the city.
Khalil Wilson, assistant director of public works, and Carrie Kofsky, director of public works, told listeners the agreement authorizes projects the RTC will act on as the city’s agent under state law. Kofsky said the program will deliver design and construction planning for a portfolio of projects totaling more than $90 million and emphasized the funding comes from the RTC indexed motor fuel tax — not the city street fund. “This is great news. $90 million that doesn’t have to come out of the city street fund,” Kofsky said.
Wilson described four project categories in the FY27 program: pavement preservation (about $7.5 million for surface treatments and patching), corrective maintenance (about $2 million), full rehabilitation for worn corridors, and traffic-operations/active-transportation projects. He said the city manages roughly 750 centerline miles of routes and prioritizes work by pavement condition and traffic volume.
Two large rehabilitation projects slated to begin construction in spring 2027 are Keystone Avenue (north of I‑80 from Coleman Drive to McCarron Boulevard), estimated at about $5.5 million, and Smith Ridge Drive (Peekom to South McCarron), estimated at about $6.5 million; both will include upgraded signage, striping and ADA accessibility work, Wilson said.
On traffic operations, Wilson and Kofsky described investments in modern traffic management and intelligent transportation systems — fiber links between signals, signal upgrades and intersection geometry changes — with roughly $4 million allocated to improve signal coordination and safety. For active transportation, city staff said projects will focus on prioritized neighborhood network planning areas; FY27 work will target Sun Valley, Panther Valley and Hidden Valley–Meadowood areas.
Wilson also listed three larger corridor projects moving into design: a Keystone safety project (south of the freeway) with about $15 million programmed for construction in 2029; the O’Brien Pass corridor improvements (Golden Valley Road and West 7th Street) at roughly $20 million, and a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) rebuild of Virginia Street (Moana Lane to Meadowood Mall) at roughly $20 million, both also projected for 2029.
Kofsky reiterated that the interlocal agreement does not require a direct city contribution and relies on the RTC fuel-tax revenue to fund the projects. She said the RTC board prioritizes projects and that early design work is critical to meet the 2029 construction timelines.
The presentation was informational; staff said the interlocal frames RTC’s role as project agent and sets priorities for the design schedule. Council is scheduled to meet March 11; JW Hodge noted upcoming items on that agenda would include potential approvals for audible pedestrian-signal upgrades and an update to the City of Reno public works design manual.
The program described will proceed through RTC prioritization and schematic design; project timelines and final construction funding are subject to the RTC process and future council and RTC actions.
