Roundabouts are here to stay in Las Vegas Valley
Roundabouts are increasing in popularity as a way to control speeding drivers across the Las Vegas Valley.
You’ve probably encountered them on the road. There’s one in the east valley at Sahara Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, a couple along Kelso Dunes Avenue in Henderson and several in Summerlin, including the huge Village Center Circle.
Just last month, the Nevada Department of Transportation touted the completion of two new roundabouts in Pahrump along a one-mile stretch of state Route 372 at Blagg Road and Pahrump Valley Boulevard.
Unfortunately, many motorists don’t know how to navigate these one-way circular intersections or understand why they exist.
Roundabouts are widely used in Europe but weren’t introduced to Las Vegas until 1990 as a traffic-calming measure that allows vehicles to freely flow around a center island without the use of stop signs or traffic lights.
Roundabouts can reduce injury accidents by roughly 80 percent compared with intersections equipped with four-way signals, according to a study cited by Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Tony Illia.
“There are fewer places for potential vehicle collisions. Plus, lower roundabout traveling speeds allow for smaller gaps between circulating vehicles, resulting in increased traffic volume and fewer delays with better fuel consumption and improved air pollution,” Illia said. “Consequently, roundabouts see significantly fewer crashes.”
Yielding is the name of the game when it comes to driving through a roundabout. Some rules:
— Slow down and look in both directions, paying particular attention to vehicles coming from your left. Pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers already traveling in the roundabout have the right-of-way.
— Enter the roundabout when you see a good-sized gap in traffic and travel counterclockwise while following the posted speed limit.
— Do not stop for vehicles waiting to enter the roundabout.
— Use your turn signal when exiting.
Freeway improvements
Anyone who’s driven Interstate 15 in North Las Vegas has noticed some major road work. NDOT started construction last fall on a $33.8 million project that calls for the addition of two lanes of traffic in each direction of the freeway between Craig Road and Speedway Boulevard.
Tom from Las Vegas wanted to know whether NDOT will also repave the existing freeway lanes.
“I travel the section between Lamb Road and Craig Road almost daily, and I can tell you that these existing lanes are in desperate need of repaving,” Tom wrote in an email to the Road Warrior.
I know exactly what you’re talking about, Tom, as do many other commuters.
And yes, NDOT plans to fix the existing areas of the highway.
“The project, in fact, requires placing 166,500 tons of asphalt, or enough blacktop to pave about 33,300 average-sized driveways,” Illia said.
Plans also call for brighter lights, new signs, landscaping improvements and seismic upgrades to four overpass bridges along the 5-mile stretch of freeway.
The project, NDOT officials said, is aimed at alleviating massive traffic jams caused during events held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including NASCAR race days and the Electric Daisy Carnival.
Construction is expected to wrap up by early 2018.
Logjammed offramp
Casey from Henderson wanted to know whether officials in her city planned to deal with traffic jams along the westbound 215 Beltway at Pecos Road.
“This section of the 215 is all too often slowed by impatient drivers who cut the line,” Casey said.
NDOT is completing a regional traffic study that will evaluate all of the local freeways, with a special focus on areas known for backups, Henderson city spokeswoman Kim Becker said. However, the results won’t be available for another 18 months.
In the meantime, Becker said, the city is working with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s traffic management center to refine signal timing for the offramp and surrounding intersections.
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Road Work Ahead
Downtown
— The northbound U.S. Highway 95 exit ramp to Rancho Drive will be closed through June 21 for work associated with Project Neon.
— Martin Luther King Boulevard is closed between Oakey Boulevard and Interstate 15 through July. Crews are installing drainage boxes.
— Oakey Boulevard is closed between Main and Commerce streets through July. Crews are installing underground utilities and storm drain infrastructure.
— Washington Avenue is restricted between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Rancho Drive through Aug. 1. Crews are installing gas lines.
— Ninth Street is closed between Carson Avenue and Main Street through Dec. 31 for sewer work.
— U.S. Highway 95 will be restricted between Rancho Road and just east of Interstate 15 through January 2018. Crews are building a new flyover ramp for high-occupancy vehicles as part of Project Neon.
— Sections of Bonneville Avenue, Charleston Boulevard, Grand Central Parkway and Martin Luther King Boulevard will have closed or disrupted lanes surrounding the Spaghetti Bowl as crews work on Project Neon through July 2018.
East valley
— Northbound U.S. Highway 95 will be reduced to a single lane between Russell Road and Charleston Boulevard from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly through June 16. Crews are repairing a bridge joint and repairing concrete.
— Nellis Boulevard will be restricted between Gowan and Craig roads through June 15. Crews are completing sewer work.
— Las Vegas Boulevard will be restricted between Nellis Boulevard and Puebla Street through June 15. Crews are completing sewer work.
— Warm Springs Road offramp from the eastbound 215 Beltway will be closed through June. Crews are building a new bridge over the highway.
Southwest
— Rainbow Boulevard will be restricted in each direction between Hacienda Avenue and Sunset Road from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. until mid-June. Crews are repaving the road and adding a traffic lane.
Summerlin
— Summerlin Parkway's westbound lanes will be restricted between Buffalo Drive and Rampart Boulevard through July. Crews are building a new auxiliary lane and making other improvements.
— The 13-mile scenic route at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area will be repaved in one-mile increments through August.
Gasoline Prices
The average gasoline price Friday in the Las Vegas Valley was $2.66 per gallon. It was $2.74 in Nevada. The national average of $2.38 is up 1 cent from a week ago, up 1 cent from a month ago and up 5 cents from a year ago.
