End of Sunset snag on Henderson’s horizon

This week readers want to know about the work being done on Sunset Road and Valle Verde Drive in Henderson and the blue lights on many of the traffic signal poles around the valley, and a reader wonders whether motorists driving the speed limit should pull over to let impatient speed demons pass.

A reader asks when the work on eastbound Sunset Road at Valle Verde Drive will be done. "The road was repaved, striped and center dividers installed, but there were sections that weren't finished and there are piles of paving material left behind. When will this problem be resolved? The gridlock in the evenings is horrible as well as dangerous."

Ed McGuire, quality control manager for the Henderson public works department, told me the work on that section of Sunset will begin in a week and be finished by the end of February.

When the work started on Sunset, city officials promised businesses that construction would be stopped by Thanksgiving to accommodate the holiday shopping traffic expected along that retail corridor, McGuire said.

While the bulk of the work on Sunset was done, some things had to wait until after the holidays. Traffic signal work will begin at the intersection next week, and in two weeks, manhole work will begin, McGuire said.

Cheryl Hauntz asks about the purpose of the blue light on many traffic signal poles around town.

The blue lights you are seeing are a part of a team of two lights, the other being red.

Bobby Shelton, spokesman for the Clark County Public Works Department, explained that these lights are used by law enforcement to help police know when the opposing signal is allowing traffic to go.

"These blue lights help the traffic officers know that a particular signal is green. When the blue lights goes out and the red light comes on, the officer knows that the traffic signal -- which is normally facing the other way -- has just turned to a red indication. And this helps the officer determine if a motorists has run a red" light, he said.

Shelton warned that motorists should pay attention to the primary traffic signal -- you know, the old red, yellow, and green one.

A reader writes: I live in Pahrump and travel to and from Las Vegas frequently. There are signs on state Route 160 stating that if you impede traffic and have more than five vehicles behind you, you should pull over and let them pass. Here's my question: I drive the speed limit -- 65 mph -- and so quite often have cars behind me because almost everyone speeds. If I am driving the legal speed limit, do I still need to pull over and let others pass? By the way, those of us who do not speed get tailgated, honked at and flipped off on a regular basis.

"Obviously the sign is posted with the assumption that everyone is going 65 mph," said Trooper Kevin Honea of the Nevada Highway Patrol. "But there is a different reality out there."

Honea told me that if there are that many cars behind you, it might be worth your peace of mind to get out of harm's way. But he pointed out that the reader is the law-abiding citizen and not doing anything wrong.

The signs were designed for big rigs that might not travel as fast as other vehicles, Honea said. A wide shoulder on state Route 160 gives vehicles enough room to maneuver off the road safely.

As far as the tailgating, honking, bird-flipping speedsters who want to zoom by you, Honea said, "We'll be waiting for them."

Have fun caucusing Saturday!

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2904.