Tonopah board rejects NDOT BUILD grant support over downtown lane reduction

The Tonopah Town Board voted 4-0 on Feb. 11 to deny a letter of support for the Nevada Department of Transportation’s FY2026 BUILD grant application for the US 6/US 95 Downtown Tonopah Safety and Multimodal Improvements Project.

The motion to deny was moved by Vice Chair Joni Eastley and seconded by Member Douglas Baker. The board’s action follows written comments submitted by Tonopah Main Street and remarks by Eastley quoting a law-enforcement contact who questioned the lane-reduction proposal.

Eastley told the board she had spoken with Lt. Ricardo Ramirez about NDOT’s plan to convert a segment through downtown from four travel lanes to two, with a center left-turn lane and other pedestrian and streetscape upgrades. According to Eastley’s account, Ramirez said crashes are rare in the downtown corridor and that reducing the highway to two lanes is unnecessary. Eastley relayed Ramirez’s concern that slowing the corridor could increase driver frustration and passing behavior, "When the travel lanes increase back to four at the Highway 6 junction, drivers caught behind a line of slow-moving semis will significantly increase their speed to get around them. They will be traveling at a high rate of speed right in front of the high school and the Tonopah Station complex," Eastley said she was told.

Tonopah Main Street’s letter, submitted to the board, said local business and property owners and residents had voiced concerns about narrowing the road and asked NDOT to retain four lanes while supporting other improvements. The letter stated support for pavement rehabilitation, ADA upgrades, storm drainage improvements, pedestrian-activated crossings, enhanced lighting and gateway artwork, but opposed permanent planters and the lane reduction. "We are taking our community’s side in this matter and request that NDOT consider keeping the existing four lanes," the letter said and was signed by Joni Eastley as Chair of Tonopah Main Street.

The board’s denial relates solely to providing a formal letter of support to NDOT for the BUILD application. Board members did not adopt alternative formal language at the meeting; discussion indicated support for elements of the streetscape and safety work (pavement, ADA and lighting) while objecting to lane reduction specifically. The board’s action was recorded as a formal vote passed 4-0.

The item does not obligate NDOT to change its application; it only reflects the town board’s decision whether to supply a local letter of support. The board did not set a follow-up date for the topic during the meeting.