NORTHWEST LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Yesterday I brought you a story about how the City of Las Vegas is working to crack down on speeding in the Northwest Valley by suggesting lowering speed limits on a three-mile stretch of Centennial Parkway, which they say will make it safer for drivers and families in the area.
This afternoon, the city's Traffic and Parking Commission voted to approve the proposal, and I caught up with city engineers for more on why lower speeds could save lives in the Northwest Valley.
The proposal is something that Northwest Valley locals I spoke with on Wednesday were all for.
WATCH | Speed limit reductions approved on Centennial Parkway in Northwest Valley
"I think lowering it would be a good idea, just to make it more safe," Shawne Fairley told me. "You hear about a lot of accidents in the area."
I was in attendance for the vote at the Las Vegas Civic Center on Thursday, where the speed limit reduction on Centennial Parkway from Shaumber Road to Grand Montecito Parkway was approved — but, when will it be implemented, and how did this whole idea come about?
Those are questions I took right to the city to get you answers.
"We received a concern on Centennial Parkway from citizens that there was speeding there and a safety issue, so we conducted a comprehensive traffic study," City of Las Vegas Engineering Project Manager Lia Grimaldi told me in a Thursday interview.
City staff found that 85% of drivers on Centennial Parkway are going 9 mph above the current 45 mph speed limit, which poses a safety risk in an area with lots of families and schools.
It's something I saw first hand Wednesday afternoon on Centennial Parkway, including a car that gunned it to barely make the light at Fort Apache.
That's how city engineers landed at lowering the speed limit on Centennial Parkway from 45 to 40 mph between Hualapai and Durango, and from 40 to 45 from Durango to Grand Montecito.
In Wednesday's story I told you the stretch of Centennial Parkway from Shaumber to Hualapai — the section that includes Centennial High School — would be lowered from 45 to 30 mph, but city staff told me on Thursday afternoon that they changed their request, and it'll now be 35 mph.
It's all a part of the city's "Vision Zero Action Plan," which is a comprehensive strategy to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roadways by 2050.
"We realize as part of this program that speeding is a major concern when it comes to traffic fatalities," Grimaldi told me. "We try to be proactive and mitigate any potential crashes that could happen."
I asked Grimaldi when the speed reductions will go into place, and when drivers will notice the change.
"It should be fairly straightforward from here on out," she told me. "We're going to have our field staff change out the signage, so within the next month or two we'll be able to implement it."
Northwest locals tell me it's great the city's taking action and lowering the speed limit on Centennial Parkway, but now it's on drivers to follow it.
"Slow down, pay attention, stay off your phone," Shawne Fairley told me Wednesday. "Because there are kids walking around here, and just people in general — take a couple more seconds."
If there's something going on in the Northwest Valley that you think I should know about, I'd love to hear from you. Just shoot me an email: Guy.Tannenbaum@KTNV.com.
