The Pahrump area's only real improvement from the Nevada Department of Transportation in the 2009 work plan will be an electronic message board on Highway 160, warning of hazardous road conditions on the way to Las Vegas.

That was the rundown given by a team of NDOT officials in a joint meeting with Nye County commissioners Wednesday in which they discussed their list of proposed projects for the upcoming year.

The widening of Highway 160 from Calvada Boulevard to the Clark County line -- for which the state legislators from this area took credit for getting $16 million in funding in the 2007 state legislative session -- has now been pushed back to a long-range element.

Melvin McCallum, NDOT transportation analyst, said that means the project can come back up again on the annual list of projects, but isn't likely to be funded.

McCallum said the contract has already been let for the electronic message board, which should be operating by the end of the year. NDOT budgeted $264,023 for the sign, which will be a mile west of the Nye-Clark County line.

County commissioners had their own suggestions.

Commissioner Lorinda Wichman said the narrow shoulders on Highway 95 north of Beatty constitute a safety hazard. Acting Public Works Director Dave Fanning said that shoulder work was on the NDOT work plan in 2006 but has since been dropped from the list.

Commissioner Gary Hollis wants NDOT to look at installing box culverts to improve drainage problems at Highway 372 and Bannavitch Street. He also pointed to problems with a cattle guard on Highway 160 at Roadrunner Road and a guardrail in Johnnie that needs improvement.

Commissioner Butch Borasky told NDOT officials it's their responsibility to crack down on signs illegally posted on highway rights-of-way. Some signs are put up in the morning and taken down at night, he said.

Commissioner Joni Eastley pushed for reconstructing the airport road from Highway 6 to the Tonopah Airport, another project listed as a long-range element.

Eastley also suggested NDOT could stretch their dollars by letting Nye County crews chip-seal Ione Road, a U.S. Forest Service road going through the Yomba Indian Reservation, instead of contracting the work, similar to what was done to the Belmont Road. A 14-mile stretch of Ione Road is up for a chip seal this year, with an estimated $1 million price tag.

Other than Ione Road, NDOT work in Nye County for 2009 consists primarily of matters like installing box culverts on highways and seal-coating roads.

Pahrump Regional Planning Commissioner Jacob Skinner was interested in talk from NDOT about providing grants for bike trails, to make it safer for children to get to school. McCallum said Nye County could obtain grants under the Safe Routes to School program or draw up a bike plan, something Skinner thought the planning department could work on.

Mohamed Rouas, NDOT assistant engineer, said a decline in driving resulted in a decrease in funding for transportation improvements. But he added that NDOT is now taking part in an environmental assessment for the Pahrump general aviation airport.

Applications for traffic signals at the intersection of Highway 160 and Wison Road, as well as Highway 372 and Pahrump Valley Boulevard and Highway 372 and Charleston Park Boulevard, were ranked 15th, 18th and 19th respectively among new NDOT applications in 2008, placing them in the medium category of priorities.

The Highway 160 widening was on the list of 2008 applications as well -- listed as 16th in priority. But while hopes were high the highway widening would begin soon after the funding by the 2007 state legislature, the money was diverted back to the general fund due to the budget shortfall.

McCallum recommended submitting some applications suggested by county officials, which could be put on the long-range element list. That would at least bring it up for consideration every year, he said.