Las Vegas Sun

November 24, 2009

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Highway U.S. 50 reopens, sort of

Friday, May 15, 1998 | 3:10 a.m.

The highway reopened late Friday, three days after it was shut down by a washout just east of here.

The undermined roadway has been rebuilt, but remains too wet to pave. Motorists will have to go slow over the dirt, but at least they'll be able to go, Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder said on Friday.

He said the department was confident that blacktop would be down by the end of Saturday.

The "Loneliest Road in America" was undermined late Monday, bisecting a key east-west link between the California and Utah lines.

Rushing water from recent heavy storms flooded the highway between Austin Summit and Bob Scott Summit, then carried it away along a 50-foot section, making it unsafe for traffic.

The only detour involved 88 miles of Nevada 305 from Austin north to Battle Mountain and another 88 miles of Nevada 278 from near Eureka north to Carlin.

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