LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As we continue the Fight for Safer Streets on Channel 13, we're tracking how local governments are working to save lives on our roadways.
This time, we're focusing on the City of Las Vegas, where, next week, the city council will be voting on funding to replace and upgrade street lights on some of its busiest thoroughfares, in order to help drivers see better at night.
WATCH| Guy Tannenbaum speaks to a local about their experience driving in the valley
According to city council agenda documents, the more than $2.5 million grant from the Nevada Department of Transportation — if approved by the council — would go towards upgrading old-school amber-colored street lights and first-generation LED street lights to newer, more efficient LEDs.
Jan Schaeffer has lived in Las Vegas since 1990, and told Channel 13 she's on board with the city's new proposal, adding that improving the visibility of street lights could reduce the number of crashes we see on our roads.
"If the LEDs are positioned correctly, I would think the broader span of light would help us," Schaeffer said.
The upgrades will be coming along several major streets like Charleston, Sahara, Rainbow, Buffalo and more, in what the city of Las Vegas calls its "High Injury Network" — the streets in Las Vegas where the most serious injuries and deaths occur, identified as part of the city's "Vision Zero Action Plan."
In fact, city data shows 77% of Las Vegas' severe and fatal traffic injuries happen on just 11% of its streets. As a reminder, that data — and the new street light project — is just inside the Las Vegas city limits, and does not include unincorporated Clark County, or the cities of North Las Vegas and Henderson.
Still, though, all of our local governments and law enforcement agencies have come together to form the Southern Nevada Traffic Task Force to try to crack down on dangerous driving, amid growing community concerns surrounding safety on our roads.
"I think they're doing the best they can with what they have," local Jean Schaeffer told me "We have so many people in and out [in Las Vegas], unlike some other cities — it's hard to see how traffic is going to flow, and [officials] can be ahead of it."
That's why Schaeffer has this message for valley drivers: "Please be careful! Watch where you're going — not just in front, but all around."
The Las Vegas City Council is set to vote on the new street light replacement project proposal at their meeting next Wednesday morning, at 9 a.m. at Las Vegas City Hall, and we'll make sure to update you when that happens.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns about traffic or ongoing road construction in your neighborhood, feel free to send them my way via email: Guy.Tannenbaum@KTNV.com.
