LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Southwest Las Vegas is booming right now, with new homes and businesses popping up right and left—including a brand new Costco location that opened last week.
If you live in the southwest valley, you've probably noticed new traffic signals popping up all over the place, which shows just how much this part of town has grown in the last few years.
WATCH | What's the deal with the new traffic lights around the southwest valley?
Clark County Public Works crews have installed more than a dozen new traffic signals since January 2024 to help keep the growing number of drivers and pedestrians in the southwest valley safe.
Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones took to social media on Friday to highlight four new traffic signals that have been activated in his district this month alone, including the long awaited signal at the intersection of Cactus and Torrey Pines, which is the main way students and staff get to and from Desert Oasis High School.
Traffic
Traffic signal activated at southwest valley intersection near Desert Oasis HS
Those improvements have been noticed by neighbors like Tom McPherson.
"Yeah, it's needed," McPherson told Channel 13. "There are a lot of people who still don't pay attention to them."
McPherson says he's seen the southwest valley's growth first-hand.
"We moved into a place about four years ago, and there was nothing around there," McPherson said. "It was a new community off of Silverado Ranch, and now there's like nine different apartment complexes and a bunch more houses around there."
There are also a bunch more traffic signals.
"Especially as you go down Silverado Ranch," McPherson said. "That used to be a lot of stop signs, now it's four or six lanes, and there are signals at every major intersection."
In fact, Clark County Public Works crews tell Channel 13 they've installed at least 18 new traffic signals in the southwest valley since January 2024 — with many of them concentrated around Southern Highlands and Mountains Edge:
- Jones Boulevard & Silverado Ranch Boulevard
- Cactus Avenue & Jones Boulevard
- Jones Boulevard & Blue Diamond Road
- Starr Avenue & Gillespie Street
- Cactus Avenue & Torrey Pines Drive
- Jones Boulevard & Pyle Avenue
- Cactus Avenue & Amigo Street
- Cactus Avenue & I-15 (west of the freeway)
- Durango Drive & Mountains Edge Parkway
- Starr Avenue & Valley View Boulevard
- Jones Boulevard & Wigwam Avenue
- Jones Boulevard & Levi Avenue
- Torrey Pines Drive & Windmill Lane
- Fort Apache Road & Ford Avenue
- Cactus Avenue & Buffalo Drive
- Starr Avenue & I-15 (east and west of the freeway)
- Warm Springs Road & El Capitan Way
Plus, six more new signals will be activated in the near future, although the county didn't give a date for when they'll come online:
- Pyle Avenue & Pollock Drive
- Starr Avenue & Dean Martin Drive
- Gillespie Street & Pebble Road
- Grand Canyon Drive & Sunset Road
- Warm Springs Road & Valley View Boulevard
- Durango Drive & Oquendo Road
Commissioner Jones tells Channel 13 more traffic signals are a great indicator of how much — and how quickly — the southwest has developed.
"I've lived in the southwest part of town for 20 years, and I've watched it grow just like everyone else," Jones said in an interview. "The southwest part of town is one of the places where we're building tremendously. We've built a lot more roads out here — that creates more traffic, but it also creates opportunities for us to put in safety improvements like crosswalks, traffic signals and stop signs."
Now neighbors say it's up to drivers to pay attention to them.
"There's a lot of stop signs that people just roll through, and it's really easy to see accidents almost happen," McPherson said.
If you live in the southwest valley and think that an intersection in your neighborhood needs a traffic signal, Commissioner Jones says you can request a traffic study by contacting his office directly by calling (702) 455-3500, emailing DistrictF@ClarkCountyNV.gov or by clicking here.
You can also file a request through the online "FixIt Clark County" portal, which can be done by clicking here.