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YOU ASK WE INVESTIGATE: Paving company responds to video calling intersection 'death trap'

Posted at 6:00 PM, Nov 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-29 22:06:52-05

Construction is never anyone's favorite thing in the valley, but a Vegas motorcyclist believes more could have been near Rainbow Boulevard and Oquendo in the  area under construction to prevent his terrible accident.

RELATED: Riders call intersection a 'death trap'

"The cones and barrels that were put there after my accident are all gone again," said Leroy Benavidez, who says he crashed there in early October because it was hard to see the difference between the asphalt road and the asphalt sidewalk. "So the next guy coming down through there, riding at night, you can't see it."

But the company doing the project takes issue with his arguments, and with the arguments put forth in this video by attorney Stephen Stubbs. Las Vegas Paving has no say over whether there are lights. Las Vegas Paving general superintendent Clark Webster says cones are not a solution either because they get hit by cars.

"When we walk away from here in April, that's not going to be any different than it is today," said Webster. "Cones won't be here."
 
Webster said asphalt sidewalks are common around the county and are generally changed to concrete eventually.
Also, he said Rainbow northbound was only one lane when Benavidez had his accident. It has expanded since.

The stripe between the asphalt road and the asphalt sidewalk, however, is brand new. We asked the attorney for Las Vegas Paving if it had anything to do with our story.

"Safety is a big concern," said Jim Baker, general counsel for Las Vegas Paving. "It's been brought to our attention that there was a safety issue. We came out here and we addressed it."

And that's not the only thing they will be looking at.

"There are instances where we run across an incident where there's a condition that is unsafe, we will bring it up to the owner," said Baker. "It is the owners obligation then to make a change to it. We'll make a suggestion, and fortunately Clark County is very receptive to our suggestions and we work with them on that. We will talk to them about this as well."

One of the things they will be asking the county is if they can paint the curb or even make it reflective to make things safer.