The long-awaited traffic light at Homestead Road and Highway 160 could be a step closer to reality after the Nye County Commissioners pieced together a new funding proposal for the $1.4 million project recently.

Commissioner Patricia Cox told the board at the July 18 meeting she had secured a commitment from Jeff Fontaine, director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, for $200,000, plus design and engineering costs, which typically amount to 10 percent of the cost of a project.

A federal safety grant worth $250,000 will be added. Nye County will ante up the rest: $300,000 from impact fees charged to developers and Payment Equal to Taxes from the Yucca Mountain project used for the remainder.

The project includes widening the approach to Highway 160 on Homestead and Winery roads and widening Highway 160 to include a left-turn lane onto Homestead.

Nye County Public Works Director Samson Yao is preparing a contract with NDOT. It will be brought back to the county commission for approval.

Yao cautioned commissioners that the NDOT design may be more than the county wants. "When we want a Toyota, they design a Cadillac," he said.

Commissioner Candice Trummell suggested Chief Civil Deputy District Attorney Ron Kent and Interim County Manager Ron Williams hammer out the language of an agreement with NDOT.

"I want to make sure the county isn't given a bill for $2 million," Trummell said.

Dan Schinhofen, a non-partisan candidate for Nye County Commissioner of District 5, urged commissioners to go ahead with the project even if NDOT doesn't approve it.

"It's had three times the (traffic) warrants it needs, and that equates to deaths and accidents," Schinhofen said. "At least tell NDOT we'll approve our end of it."

NDOT Chief Safety Engineer Kelly Anrig tried to convince a skeptical crowd at the Pahrump Community Center May 15 about the worth of building a roundabout at that intersection. He said roundabouts force traffic to slow down and result in a 30 to 40 percent reduction in crashes. A few days later, after opposition from numerous local residents, NDOT agreed to a traffic signal. The cost of a roundabout had been estimated at only $500,000.

Cox said she held negotiations with NDOT over traffic signals at three other locations: Highway 372 and Blagg Road; Highway 372 and Pahrump Valley Boulevard and Highway 160 and Wilson Road.

Anrig had estimated the average daily traffic count on Highway 160 at Homestead Road at 17,000 vehicles. In the three years ending in 2005, there were 32 crashes at that intersection, with one fatality and nine people injured.