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Consultants report Lamoille Highway currently operating below capacity but flag points that could need future upgrades
Summary
Sand Bell Engineering presented a traffic study showing most sections of Lamoille Highway remain within acceptable level‑of‑service ranges, while traffic modeling that includes mine bus trips and future build‑out could push some segments toward higher congestion thresholds; commissioners asked for route alternatives and ballpark cost estimates.
Consultants from Sand Bell (presenter Tom Hann) updated the Elko County Board of Commissioners on an alternate‑route feasibility study for Lamoille Highway. The presentation used NDOT ADT counts (2012 and 2023) and model outputs to compare existing volumes to theoretical capacities. Tom Hann said sections near the summit had counts in the mid‑teens of thousands of ADT while the approach near 12th Street reached roughly 22,900 ADT in some stretches.
Hann explained the team is using newer modeling metrics (percent time spent following/follower density) that incorporate bus and mine employee trips and other demographic factors and agreed with commissioners that peak bus movements and mine shuttles need careful handling in the model. Commissioners asked staff to identify four to five candidate alternate alignments (Jiggs, Boyd Kennedy, Berner Basin, Fort Halleck and variants), estimate mileage and provide round‑figure costs and expected triggers tied to master‑plan build‑out so the county can prioritize easement acquisition and long‑range funding.
The board did not take immediate action but directed consultants to return with refined route sketches, rough cost ranges and timing thresholds tied to projected build‑out.
