LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Summer road construction — not necessarily, everyone's favorite thing, right?
"You want it done, but you hate the fact that you have to detour and add more time to your commute, making it more difficult to get home," said Northwest Las Vegas local Joshua Martin. "Not to mention the noise."
Well, what if the roadwork makes streets safer around schools before the start of the school year?
"I'm all for it, as long as it's planned accordingly,"he said. "Doing it in the summer is the smartest way, so you're not affecting drop-off times, which are crazy enough as it is."
WATCH | I break down some new road projects happening in the northwest valley and how the city picked these locations:
On Monday, crews with the City of Las Vegas started work on safety improvements on 18 different roads in their jurisdiction, and a majority of them are around schools in the Northwest Valley.
Here's the full list of where crews will be working from June through August this summer, stretching from here in the Northwest Valley, to Summerlin, to just east of the Las Vegas Strip:
- Brent Lane from Erik Lloyd Street to Skye Canyon Park Drive
- Donald Nelson Avenue from Topaz Creek Street to Jensen Street
- Whispering Sands Drive from Buffalo Drive to Gracious Orchard Street
- Whispering Sands Drive from Bradley Road to Ceddoa Dawn Street
- Ft. Apache Road at Dorrell Lane
- Echelon Point Drive from Grand Canyon Drive to Tee Pee Lane
- Azure Drive from Serene Drive to Rebecca Road
- Rebecca Road from Tropical Parkway to Azure Drive
- Bullring Drive from Bradley Road to White Meadow Street
- Corbett Street from Leon Avenue to Bradley Road
- El Campo Grande Avenue from Leon Avenue to Bradley Road
- Fire Mesa Street from Trinity Peak Avenue to Peak Drive
- Cielo Vista Avenue from Pueblo Vista Drive to Biscayne Hills Way
- J Street from Jimmy Avenue to Lake Mead Boulevard
- Oxford Cross Drive from Anasazi Drive to Crestdale Lane
- Sahara Avenue at Santa Paula Drive
- Pueblo Vista Drive from Cielo Vista Avenue to Northern School Limits
- Crestdale Lane from Oxford Cross Drive to Northern School Limits.
As you can see, that includes roadwork around 12 different schools like Bilbray Elementary, Lied STEM Academy, Arbor View High School and more!
What new improvements are being made exactly?
Outside of Joseph Neal Elementary School near Rainbow and Tropical Parkway, you can already see work underway: they removed the previous median strips that lined Azure Drive and Rebecca Road and currently have molds in place to install concrete medians that will prevent U-turns, which are illegal in all Southern Nevada school zones.
Crews will also be putting in speed bumps, better signs and improved street markings at each of the 18 work sites to make it safer for both drivers and pedestrians.
"Anything that's going to keep these kids safer," Joshua Martin said. "Because they're not paying attention, and half the time the drivers aren't paying attention either — anything that's going to give them more of a barrier, I'm all for."
Why these locations in particular, though? I asked the City that exact question, here's what a spokesperson told me:
"Our teams are always looking to improve roadways. This is the result of traffic studies that may have come about from citizens raising concerns through SeeClickFix."
That means you could be making a difference!
"It comes down to construction and making the roads safe, but ultimately it comes down to what happens behind the wheel," Joshua said.
If you'd like to voice your concerns about road safety in your neighborhood, you can visit the City of Las Vegas' online "SeeClickFix" portal and file a request by clicking here.
If there's something going on in the Northwest Valley that you think I should know about, send me an email at Guy.Tannenbaum@KTNV.com or fill out the form below:
