Construction of two new travel lanes on Vista Boulevard between North Los Altos and Wingfield parkways in Sparks kicks off at 11 a.m. on Thursday with groundbreaking ceremonies at the north end of the project. The Resort at Red Hawk will host a reception and provide parking and shuttles to the Regional Transportation Commission event site.

The $10 million project funded by local fuel taxes and impact fees is a critical link to the Spanish Springs community, according to RTC officials. The project will eliminate a bottleneck that creates congestion daily between wider sections of Vista Boulevard on both the north and south ends. The two new lanes and intersection improvements will provide much needed road capacity. Two existing lanes will also be reconstructed and become the southbound travel lanes. The project includes a new traffic signal at the Wingfield Hills intersection, new medians, a pedestrian path and curb, gutter and drainage improvements.

Construction is set to begin in late September and be completed by late summer 2010. RTC project manager Doug Maloy said the contractor is required to maintain one paved lane in each direction at all times and will make efforts to minimize delays and complete the work on schedule. Normal construction hours are expected to be between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Resort at Red Hawk parking area is located at 660 N. Wingfield Parkway. Following the groundbreaking, the resort will return guests to the resort.

For complete RTC information, call 348-0400 or go to rtcwashoe.com to sign up for MyRTC to get free email updates and a weekly road project status report updated each Friday.