No horse trails set at Farm and Jones
Last week I joined Alan Stock on his KXNT radio morning show and several callers were kind enough to call in with questions rather than dish out insults to a radio first-timer. I didn't have all the answers -- actually, I had very few -- readily available and promised to address them in this column.
Unfortunately many of the callers' questions involved projects that land in Clark County's jurisdiction. But ever since Bobby Shelton, the county Public Works Department's former go-to guy, has been reassigned from his position, extracting info from the county is like trying to find a street without construction cones. Not easy. Be patient, I'll hopefully get some answers.
Sam lives near Farm Road and Jones Boulevard where development is encroaching in on equestrian neighborhoods: Does the city still have plans to build equestrian trails?
• The city has equestrian trails along Bradley Road, Grand Teton and Torrey Pines drives and these equine pathways were funded and constructed largely by private developers. If you live right at Farm and Jones, Sam, there are no plans in the works to build trails at that exact location. The trails mentioned above are designated only for horses and are just a few blocks from you toward Iron Mountain Road. You can access those by using multi-use trails at Farm and Bradley or Farm and Torrey Pines.
Peter inquired about the high-occupancy vehicle lanes along U.S. Highway 95. He asked whether there were plans to remove them near the Rainbow Curve because they make it difficult to merge onto the highway.
• The Nevada Department of Transportation has no plans to remove those lanes or place restrictions on the hours of use, Peter, but it's not all bad news.
Bob McKenzie, spokesman for the department, acknowledged that the lanes are causing troubles for merging traffic, especially northbound in the afternoon. A widening project from the Rainbow curve up to Ann Road will ultimately alleviate the problem, but that is a two-year project that will begin early next year. In the interim, traffic engineers at the department are searching for a temporary fix.
Another caller asked why it appeared that a landscaping project was under way at U.S. 95 near Summerlin Parkway. Still it sits with dirt berms.
• The Transportation Department is preparing to beautify a stretch of the highway from Martin Luther King Boulevard to Rainbow using $3.1 million in federal stimulus finding.
Those dirt berms will be transformed into something more attractive within six months. McKenzie said the project, which includes landscaping on both sides of the freeway sound wall and in the interchange, will get under way next week and should take about six months to complete.
Here's the question of the day: When will the southbound Martin Luther King Boulevard offramp from U.S. 95 open?
• As I said on Stock's show, this opening date has been a moving target. I'm reluctant to even throw a date out there, but since it's now flashing on the freeway, here it is: Sept. 30, according to the Las Vegas Public Works Department and its flashing sign.
Greg asks: Has anyone told the contractors working on St. Rose Parkway that they're supposed to be finished in 16 days? I have not seen anything change in months.
• Crews working to widen and repave St. Rose Parkway ran into some utility problems and other issues as they attempted to wrap up work on that arterial. First they have to get the fiber optic cables they encountered moved and they also had to apply for rights of way to move a wall after a new church was built along a stretch of St. Rose. All these things take time to resolve, but the Nevada Department of Transportation believes all the work will be done and the lanes opened by November or early December.
Speaking of fiber optics, many readers want to know when the express lanes will open along Interstate 15.
• Crews finishing up those lanes also unexpectedly ran into fiber optic cables along I-15. The express lanes, which will guide motorists from Sahara Avenue to the Las Vegas Beltway with no exits, are expected to be open in December.
If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at (702) 387-2904, or send an e-mail to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com. Include your phone number.
• The Casino Center Boulevard and Bonneville Avenue intersection will be closed to traffic from 8 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday as crews continue work on the Regional Transportation Commission's new ACE bus line.
While the intersection is closed, traffic will be detoured off Casino Center and onto Garces and Clark avenues. Traffic on Bonneville will be detoured at First and Third streets. Access to the parking garages at the Regional Justice Center and the Clark County Detention Center will be available.
Dedicated rapid transit lanes are being built in the center of Casino Center and Third Street.
Beginning Monday and lasting about five months, the city of Las Vegas will be upgrading the power infrastructure in stretches of Main and First streets. Crews will be working day and night to complete the $1.5 million project.
On Main Street, work will take place between Boulder and Clark avenues; on First, between Coolidge and Gass avenues and also on Coolidge and Gass between Main and First streets. Work will also take place on some side streets approaching Main.
Main Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction in the work areas; some on-street parking will be temporarily unavailable.
The Water Reclamation District is rehabilitating sewer pipelines and repairing manholes along Dean Martin Drive at Tropicana Avenue. Two southbound lanes from Tropicana to Ali Baba Lane will be affected, and northbound traffic will be reduced to one lane. Drivers will still have a dedicated left-turn lane onto Tropicana. This work is expected to last through at least Oct. 16.
Until Friday morning, NV Energy crews will continue their work in the eastbound traffic lanes on Flamingo Road at Las Vegas Boulevard. Starting 1,000 feet from the Flamingo Road-Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, lanes on both thoroughfares will be reduced to two during overnight construction hours, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Construction will also continue in the eastbound Flamingo lanes between Audrie Street and Koval Lane. All entrances to casinos and other businesses will remain accessible during construction.
AVOID TRAFFIC if you're headed to the Las Vegas 350 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday by arriving in the afternoon or taking a Coach America bus. Some ticket gates will open at noon. Coach America buses will leave from the Golden Nugget downtown beginning at 10 a.m. Round-trip tickets cost $25 and are available at the shuttle desk inside the hotel.
