LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's been one year since orange cones lined Boulder Highway between Wagonwheel Drive and Tulip Falls Drive as part of Henderson's Re-Imagine Boulder Highway project.
Officials say crews have made significant progress on upgrades designed to boost safety, improve access and prepare for a new bus lane. This includes installing more than 20,000 feet of storm drains, upgrading traffic signals, adding 105 new streetlights and laying fresh asphalt.
VIDEO: Jhovani Carrillo takes your questions to city officials to get some answers about Reimagine Boulder Highway
"You may not be able to see a lot of the work that's happening. A ton of the work is underground at this point," said Nathan Enos, quality control manager for the city of Henderson.
After we shared an update on the construction progress earlier this month, many residents had questions about the development.
WATCH | Jhovani Carrillo breaks down the latest developments at the project's one-year mark
Channel 13 went back to city officials to get some clarity.
Addressing traffic flow concerns
One of the most common questions from viewers focused on traffic flow.
One resident asked: "How does going from 3 lanes with the outside carriage lane on either side of the road (a carriage lane that would have been perfect to just make a dedicated bus lane) to 2 lanes per side with the bus pick up lanes in the center of the road help traffic?"
"Taking the bus traffic away from the general traffic, it keeps that sort of interference that we saw with the buses— it takes it out of the general traffic," said Enos. "One of the major benefits that we are hoping to realize is by shortening these lanes; by making it a two-lane road, you shorten the distance that a pedestrian would have to cross active travel lanes. And that time that it takes for pedestrians to cross travel lanes is really a major driver of what the signal timing is, so you have to give a pedestrian ample time to cross the roads, so that means that you have to have the cars stopped for that same period of time. So obviously, it takes a pedestrian a shorter amount of time to cross a two-lane road than a three-lane road. So we can make those red times shorter and make the whole traffic cycle run a little bit faster, so that, combined with the removal of the bus traffic out of the general traffic, we are confident that people will be able to get through the corridor in a similar amount of time to what they get through it now," Enos said.
Enos told me this new model could also help bus riders arrive at their destination faster.
Pedestrian safety measures
The second most common concern involved pedestrian safety. One viewer said, "People are going to be running to catch a bus into traffic, running into traffic getting off a bus."
"We moved those bus stops to where they all occur at actual intersections. So the traffic will get a red light, the pedestrian will be able to safely cross at that point, and access the bus stop from there," Enos said.
Enos says barrier rails and new landscaping between the traffic and bus lanes will also be added to discourage people from jaywalking. He adds that having the bus lane in the middle could prevent crashes with cars and other riders on the road.
"They are not having to merge into traffic when they get going. They are not stopping in front of other vehicles... It eliminates those conflict points between the buses and the general traffic," Enos said.
Connecting old and new sections
Some residents also asked how the new bus lanes will connect from the rebuilt section of Boulder Highway to the older stretch.
"It will give buses their own green lights before anybody goes to get them from the center back to the outside. Then once that green cycle goes, the general traffic will get their green to proceed as well," Enos said.
Turning at an intersection:
We also asked Enos what drivers need to keep in mind when turning left or right at the intersection.
"It's a coordination with the lights. Generally, the idea is that the buses will get their own green light. They'll be able to proceed through the intersection— that will happen pretty fast— and then once that cycle is done, the left turn cycles and the through cycles will happen as well. So there will be a separation of the light timing between the buses and the general traffic," Enos.
The project is set to be completed by 2027, and officials say crews are on track with the timeline.