The Bureau of Land Management has approved a right-of-way for the realignment of State Route 361, advancing another major component of the U.S. Navy's Fallon Range Training Complex expansion.
The Nov. 4 decision authorizes approximately 630 acres of permanent public-land right-of-way in Churchill, Mineral, and Nye counties for a new highway alignment between Gabbs and Middlegate.
The project will relocate approximately 13 miles of State Route 361 east of its existing alignment, moving the highway outside the expanded B-17 military training range while maintaining the north-south transportation connection through central Nevada.
State Route 361 connects U.S. Highway 95 south of Hawthorne with U.S. Highway 50 at Middlegate. The highway serves residents, ranchers, businesses, and travelers moving between some of Nevada's most remote communities.
The relocation is part of the Navy's broader modernization of the Fallon Range Training Complex, authorized by Congress to provide additional training space for military aviation operations based at Naval Air Station Fallon.
The Nevada Department of Transportation is coordinating the highway project with the Navy, the Federal Highway Administration, and BLM. The Navy is providing funding for the realignment through the Federal Highway Administration.
The new BLM decision follows several years of planning and environmental review. Earlier this year, NDOT conducted public hearings on the proposed alignment, including an in-person meeting in Gabbs on March 31.
The Federal Highway Administration approved the project's environmental assessment in February and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact in July.
According to NDOT's public-hearing materials, the existing highway will remain open during construction. The agency also states that the new alignment is not expected to increase travel time and that wildlife fencing and crossings will be installed.
The BLM authorization does not mean construction can begin immediately. The agency must issue a separate Notice to Proceed before work starts.
The highway relocation is one of several infrastructure and land-use changes associated with the range expansion. Others include road improvements, private land acquisitions, and negotiations concerning grazing permits and mining interests.
During a January presentation to the Churchill County Commission, officials reported that private land acquisitions and grazing compensation negotiations remained underway in the B-17 expansion area.
The Fallon Post previously reported that the Navy had begun notifying affected grazing permit holders as part of that process. For more on how the expansion is affecting local ranchers, read “Fenced Out: Fallon Ranchers Fight for Their Family’s Future” in the Great Basin Sun at www.greatbasinsun.com/article/1117,fenced-out-fallon-ranchers-fight-for-their-family-s-future.
While the new highway is intended to preserve public travel between Gabbs and Middlegate, questions remain about how construction and the eventual relocation may affect individual ranching operations, access to public lands, livestock movement, and businesses along the existing corridor.
Federal highway officials have also established Dec. 14, 2026, as the deadline for certain legal challenges to their final project approvals, subject to any shorter applicable statutory deadline. That notice is separate from the BLM's Nov. 4 authorization.
The Fallon Post will continue examining the highway relocation and its effects on the surrounding communities as the project advances.
Additional project information, including maps and environmental documents, is available through the Nevada Department of Transportation's State Route 361 project website as well as the Intergovernmental Executive Committee website at frtcmodernization.com/IEC.
Comment
Comments