RTC and city engineers presented a rehabilitation and lane-reconfiguration proposal for Prater Way that would convert the corridor to a striped road diet: one travel lane in each direction, a center turn lane and buffered bicycle lanes on both sides, plus pedestrian upgrades and a possible refuge island at Dilworth School. RTC project manager Kim Diegel told the council the work responds to a high-crash segment and poor pavement conditions and is part of the agency's pavement preservation program.

The presentation said the segment between Pyramid Way and Stanford Way needs full reconstruction while the eastern portion would receive slurry seal. Staff cited crash data from 2019'2023 showing more than 100 crashes in the segment, including 33 injury crashes and three fatalities. Diegel said the recommended striped road diet is the preferred alternative because it balances safety, cost and community context: "The recommended alternative is a striped road diet," she said, and staff estimated the design could reduce crashes by about 34% while adding roughly 35 seconds, or about 15%, to corridor travel time during peak periods.

RTC emphasized the configuration is reversible because changes are achieved through striping, and staff proposed mitigations such as signal retiming, a refuge island near Dilworth and coordination with utility and school schedules. Diegel also noted the FHWA guidance that roads carrying up to about 20,000 vehicles per day may be candidates for a road diet; current counts for the corridor were discussed at roughly 16,400 daily vehicles with modest projected growth.

Residents and council members raised specific concerns about driveway access, parking loss and event-related traffic. John Shipton, a long-time resident, said he opposes eliminating north-side residential parking from Pyramid Way toward El Rancho and asked that any bike lane be placed on the south side or on I Street so residents retain on-street parking. Trista Gomez, who said she moved back to Sparks recently, urged caution about removing a driving lane and suggested alternatives such as speed bumps and repaired sidewalks to improve safety without lane loss. Councilmember Ivy pressed staff to confirm that on-street parking adjacent to residences would be retained; Diegel and RTC staff said the proposed striping would preserve parking adjacent to homes while adding a buffer to reduce sideswipe crashes.

Council members asked how the safety gains were weighed against level-of-service impacts. RTC staff answered that safety was a primary driver because the corridor sits on the region's high-injury network and the design team had run intersection- and corridor-level analyses to estimate delays and queuing. Staff committed to additional outreach, including a public meeting in January, further signal timing work and consultation with the police and fire departments on response-time implications.

Next steps: staff will update the project web materials, host additional outreach and return in January for council direction as design is finalized and permission-to-construct agreements and limited easements are worked through. Construction is planned to start in spring 2026 with completion in late fall 2026, subject to final design and utility coordination.