Since the Southeast Connector opened in July 2018, residents near Veterans Parkway have been complaining about the intersection at Cesena Avenue and Pesaro Way. Eight years later, a traffic signal has been approved there. It has no construction date. On August 26, 2026, Reno City Council accepted a $1.7 million grant to expand Fire Station 12 on Steamboat Parkway, and crews broke ground on October 29. That's about nine weeks from vote to construction.
Both are safety projects in the same corner of south Reno, and both serve the same growing population. The difference in their speed comes down to who is paying, and a third project at Geiger Grade Road follows the same rule.
Four Dorm Rooms Are the Bottleneck
Station 12 sits at 1190 Steamboat Parkway, close to where Steamboat meets Veterans Parkway. It opened in 2014 and covers about 11.84 square miles, including Damonte Ranch. It answers nearly 4,600 emergency calls a year, which makes it Reno's fourth-busiest fire station.
Those calls are rising across the city as well as here. Reno's emergency calls went from 33,696 in 2015 to more than 51,700 in 2025, a 54% increase in ten years. News 4 reported that the station was designed for a smaller population.
The expansion adds very little in the way of vehicles or bays. News 4's report lists the work:
- Four new private dormitory rooms and restrooms
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades
- A new sewer connection
- A rerouted shared-use path
- Landscaping restoration
The same report says the work lets the department put existing fire apparatus into service with a full crew. Reno Fire Chief Dave Cochran told KTVN 2 News exactly what the limit had been:
"We just didn't have the capacity or someplace to put the people. We have the equipment, we have the engines, we have the apparatus, but we need someplace for the people."
So the limit on emergency service in south Reno has been beds and bathrooms. The trucks were already there. That kind of shortfall is easy to miss from the street, and it's also cheap to fix next to a new station, which helps explain why a private donor could close the gap so fast.
KTVN also reported that Station 12 will stay open and operating for the whole construction period, with completion expected in spring 2027. If you walk or bike the shared-use path next to the station, expect it to move as part of the project.
Why This One Moved in Nine Weeks
The grant came from the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation and is being administered through the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada and Community Housing Land Trust, LLC. The city doesn't have to put up matching funds. Di Loreto Construction and Development is doing the work, and the finished improvements go to the City of Reno as a community gift.
That setup removes the steps that usually slow a public project down. The city didn't have to find money in its budget, wait for a capital plan cycle, or weigh the station against competing needs. Foundation co-president Chris Watts told KTVN that when Chief Cochran approached the foundation, "it was easy, yes."
Ward 6 Councilmember Brandi Anderson spoke to the budget side directly in the same KTVN story, saying the partners' help "helps a lot, especially in the community and in the economic times that we are, you know, experiencing." That remark matters for the next project, which has nobody covering its bill.
The Intersection That Has Waited Since 2018
The Reno Gazette Journal explained the problem at Veterans Parkway, Cesena Avenue and Pesaro Way on October 26. Only Cesena and Pesaro have stop signs. Traffic on Veterans moves at full speed, and turning left across it from either side street is hard at busy times. More cars have come through since the Southeast Connector opened as a bypass between south Reno and east Sparks.
The city and RTC Washoe first proposed a concrete median, which they called a "cost-effective" fix, to block left turns. Residents objected. A median would have forced drivers to turn right and then make a U-turn at the next light, and the closest signals are up at Rio Wrangler Parkway and down at Curti Ranch Road. The agencies took another look and settled on a full traffic signal.
The neighborhood got the better design, and the timeline got longer as a result. RTC deputy executive director Dale Keller wrote to residents that a signal "represents a more significant investment than the initially proposed improvements and will need to be prioritized alongside other traffic signals and safety needs throughout the region." RTC will work with the city "to identify funding and determine when the project can be advanced."
The Station 12 gift avoided exactly that process. The signal has to compete with every other intersection in Washoe County. For now, the two-way stop at Cesena and Pesaro stays as it is.
The Sewer Line That Pays Its Own Way
A third project shows a different way to pay for public work. If you've driven past Geiger Grade Road and South Virginia Street, just east of Shayden Summit, you've likely seen excavators and boring machines there for months. The RGJ reported in October that it's a Washoe County sewer expansion built by SNC. It is "Reach 3" of the Pleasant Valley Interceptor Project, and it extends South Truckee Meadows sewer service from Damonte Ranch Parkway toward Towne Drive.
The work was approved on May 26 for about $5.1 million. It covers recycled water pipelines, gravity sewer and force main lines, jack-and-bore tunneling under U.S. 395 and Geiger Grade, and roadway restoration. The idea first appeared in the 2002 South Truckee Meadows Water and Wastewater Facility Plan.
The funding is what matters for residents. Washoe County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale told the RGJ that the money "comes from developer sewer connection fees, not from existing ratepayer user rates," and that the work keeps the county "ahead of new development." Because new development pays for the pipe, the pipe gets built as new development arrives. The same area has been eyed as a retail site, with Costco Wholesale named as a possible tenant.
How Each Project's Money Sets Its Schedule
| Project | Location | Who pays | Status around publish day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Station 12 expansion | 1190 Steamboat Parkway | Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation grant, no city match | Under construction since Oct. 29, 2026; spring 2027 completion expected |
| Pleasant Valley Interceptor, Reach 3 | Geiger Grade Road and South Virginia Street | Developer sewer connection fees through the county Utilities Fund | Crews from SNC on site |
| Veterans Parkway signal | Cesena Avenue and Pesaro Way | Funding still to be identified by RTC and the city | Signal chosen over a median; design and construction timeline to come later |
Veterans Parkway does show that a regionally funded project gets finished once it reaches the top of the list. RTC's roundabout work at Geiger Grade Road was completed with a ribbon-cutting in December 2025. It added a second eastbound lane, better lighting and crossing signals for pedestrians and cyclists. RTC's project page puts the total estimate at $6,774,455. The Cesena and Pesaro signal is in that same line now, behind other intersections across the region.
Between now and spring, look for changes along the shared-use path at Station 12 first, then the finished station with four new crew rooms. When RTC posts a design for the Veterans Parkway signal, that will be the first real sign of when it might be built.
At Reno's Realty Group, Jodi Kruse follows projects like these because her lending background trained her to ask who is paying before guessing when something will happen. If you'd like to know how the station, the signal or the work at Geiger Grade could affect your street or a home you're considering in Damonte Ranch, we'll go through it with you. Schedule Your Free Concierge Consultation.
