LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — More crosswalk concerns are coming from our community — this time, on the east side.
Safety at crosswalks around schools is front and center for so many families with kids now back in the classroom, especially following the death of Arbor View High School senior McKenzie Scott last May, who was hit and killed by a drunk driver while marking in a marked crosswalk.
Now, another dangerous crosswalk is causing fears for residents in east Las Vegas, who reached out to Channel 13, telling me something needs to be done.
WATCH | Community members express crosswalk concerns
A viewer reached out to me saying there have been several crashes on Eastern Avenue around the crosswalk at Isabelle Avenue — it's a main way for students in the neighborhood to get to and from Sunrise Acres Elementary School and Roy Martin Middle School, and people who live and work near the crosswalk tell me they want to see improvements made to the crosswalk by the City of Las Vegas before it's too late.
"I worry and I wonder, 'when is the day that somebody's going to get hit?'" said Dave Gomez.
Gomez works on the stretch of Eastern near the crosswalk, and says he's seen more than a dozen crashes over the last couple years, including two just last week.
He isn't the only one concerned about the dangers, either. Larry Smith lives nearby, and says the situation around the crosswalk is really bad.
"It's pretty bad every day, you see [cars driving] 60 or 70 miles per hour," Smith told me. "It's just crazy. People just think they have somewhere really important to go that's more important than their kid or my nephew."
Videos a neighbor shared with Channel 13, show pedestrians crossing the street in a marked crosswalk with cars screeching to a halt — in one video a car can't stop soon enough and crashes into a resident's wall and tree, the other video ended with several cars piling up.
"It's just an ongoing problem here, and one day someone is going to die," Gomez said. "We shouldn't wait for that to happen for change to happen."
I followed Gomez as he pointed out to us just how little drivers are paying attention when people are crossing the street in the crosswalk at Isabelle Avenue — we even caught one car not stopping, missing Gomez by only a few feet.
Crossing guards are now out at the crosswalk before and after school, and Gomez says while they help a little bit, the guards face the same problems too.
In fact, our cameras captured crossing guard Jeanette Jones blowing her whistle multiple times to get cars to stop for kids on Thursday morning.
"It's real dangerous, because the kids try to cross and the cars don't stop for them," Jones said.
I asked Gomez what he'd like to see done at the crosswalk to improve the situation and make it safer for pedestrians.
"I would like to see some flashers with the push button, with the red lights and not the yellow lights," Gomez replied. "Because if [drivers] don't respect the yellow signs, and there's three of them here, the red [lights] will tell them it's time to stop."
Gomez says he's reached out to the City of Las Vegas a number of times about the crosswalk, and that he's been met with the same response every time.
"They're always giving me the 'we're going to do a traffic study, we've got to get traffic out there,' but when? When somebody's blood is across the crosswalk?" Gomez said.
I reached out to the city for information about the crosswalk, and to see if they were aware of the community's concerns.
A spokesperson told me that past reviews in the area identified the crosswalk for upgrades, possibly including flashers, and that improvements are planned within the next five years.
The spokesperson added that a walk audit conducted in September 2023 outside of the schools resulted in "53 school-related improvements on public streets, including new signs, striping and red curb installation."
But for Gomez, that's not good enough, especially when I asked him how soon he thinks improvements need to be made at the crosswalk at Eastern and Isabelle.
"Yesterday," Gomez replied. "We needed something here yesterday."
The full statement from the City of Las Vegas can be read here:
"Since these locations are near schools, the city collects data during school days to capture normal traffic patterns and the increased activity during drop-off and pick-up times. We study locations through data collection and plan improvements as funding becomes available, which can take time. Past reviews in this area identified the pedestrian crossing at Eastern Avenue and Isabelle Avenue for upgrades in our Pedestrian Master List, including the possibility of a pedestrian-activated crossing. This location is covered by the SS4A competitive national grant we were awarded, so improvements are planned within the next five years. In the meantime, two crossing guards assist at this location during school hours.
In September 2023, we conducted a walk audit for Roy Martin Middle School and Sunrise Acres Elementary School, in consultation with the Ward 3 office and CCSD Suggested Routes to School. As a result, the city completed 53 school-related improvements, on public streets, including new signs, striping and red curb installation.
We also conducted a traffic study at Sunrise Avenue and 28th Street, which led to converting the intersection to an all-way stop in May 2024. We continue to work with police agencies on enforcement in the area."
If you have a crosswalk concern or maybe a question about ongoing road construction in your neighborhood, shoot me an email at Guy.Tannenbaum@ktnv.com, and I'd be glad to look into it.
