After years of talk, planning and debate, it is finally happening. The project to narrow Carson Street through downtown Carson City is beginning tomorrow. On March 7th a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 11am at Third and Carson, in front of the Firkin and Fox, to launch this project. Over the course of this summer and fall, the entire stretch of Carson Street from Fifth to William is going to be reworked. Where there is four lanes now, with a landscaped median in the middle for part of it, the final result will have one lane in each direction, a center turn lane all the way, wider sidewalks and landscaped curbs, and on-street parking.
But as this website is focused on the long view of how the town changes over time, I felt it was important to document the “before” views of Carson Street as we know it today, the four-lane Carson Street that will be going away. Over the next few posts I’ll be giving an in-depth photo gallery of the wide streets, narrow sidewalks, landscaped medians, and long crosswalks that have characterized downtown Carson City for decades. Right now it doesn’t seem very exciting, seeing pictures of a worn-out street that we’re all so familiar with. But in several years, when we have acclimated to the new downtown it will be interesting to go back and look at these, which will then be historical photos, and remember how it used to be.
Fifth to Fourth
Fourth to Third
Third to Second
Next time we’ll look at Third Street, which is being completely closed for a new public plaza, and at the stretch of Carson in front of the Capitol.
