SPARKS — Nancy Martin sank into a sea of Sparks residents, commuters and church-goers Wednesday night who were concerned about the intersection of Pyramid Highway and McCarran Boulevard.

“My house is kind of close to Pyramid,” Martin said. “I have lived there for 30 years and they have us in limbo.”

The woman was one of many who did not know if she would lose her house as the Regional Transportation Commission worked on plans for improvements to the most accident-prone and congested intersection in Sparks. At the RTC's last estimate, more than 60,000 cars travel through the intersection per day.

“The purpose of the project is to increase capacity and make it more safe,” said Scott Gibson, the intersection project manager for the RTC.

Some preliminary alternatives depicted that congested portion of Pyramid Highway as an overpass, reaching over McCarran and bypassing all stop-and-go intersection traffic. Other alternatives showed Pyramid Highway as a five-lane road in each direction with northbound traffic separated from the southbound by a landscaped divider.

Other options have been mulled over as well, but each would require the RTC to snatch up right-of-way land and possibly acquire about 70 homes as well as some of the shopping center land at the southwest corner of Pyramid and McCarran. The project area encompasses three churches, an office complex and Drake Elementary School.

However, RTC officials made it clear at Wednesday’s meeting that they are taking a fresh look at what the intersection really needs.

“We are hitting the reset button and working to not over design or under design for what we need,” Gibson told the crowd.

New estimates as to traffic congestion and accidents will be included in the revised Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), according to the project Web site.

“In light of the current economic conditions we are not growing like we used to,” Gibson said.

According to Gibson, the RTC is at the second step in an eight-step process to develop the EIS.

While many in the room were concerned about losing their neighborhoods, the same people were still concerned about a congested commute.

“The congestion is pretty bad,” Martin said. “If it is congested now, people are still going to come out there.”

Local commuter Phil Fleischmann agreed. Fleischmann does not live in the neighborhood, but said he travels the road regularly to get to work.

“I know something has to be done,” Fleischmann said. “But I want to see what they have come up with and if it really eases the problem. If they are doing something this extensive, I want to make sure they do the 20-year plan and not have to do it again.”

More than 33,000 residents were mailed invitations to the Wednesday meeting, according to RTC spokeswoman Felicia Archer, and the meeting room at John Ascuaga’s Nugget was overflowing.

“We are taking a fresh look at the process and the assumptions we have made,” Archer said of the meeting. “We want to continue a dialogue with people who are impacted by the project, keep the line of communication open.”

Those with comments on the project were directed to submit their opinions to Gibson. His e-mail is sgibson@rtcwashoe.com.