Road Rehabilitation

This week, readers want to know why a road work project is taking soooooooo long to finish -- geez, what else is new around here, folks? -- and if motorcycles can ride on, instead of in-between, the dotted lines on the road.

And the Road Warrior takes a shot at becoming the Shakespeare of Our Sand-Surrounded Streets Serving Stupid Chauffeurs.

Jon Yonko asks: How much longer is it going to take to finish the Cheyenne Road upgrade between Rampart Boulevard and Buffalo Drive? The last four or five weeks have seen no progress in finishing off what little is left to be done. They are good at moving barrels around, and that is about it.

Believe it or not, officials at the Las Vegas Public Works Department said the project is on schedule and moving along at the predicted clip. The project began in mid-December and was expected to last a little more than five months.

"It'll be completed by the end of May, at the latest. We are on schedule," Debby Ackerman, a public works spokeswoman, said this week.

If passers-by like Jon aren't seeing much progress, it's probably because most of the work is taking place during overnight hours, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., Ackerman said.

The $3.2 million project includes the total replacement of the existing Cheyenne roadway pavement from Rampart/Durango Drive to Buffalo and the street's resurfacing from Buffalo to U.S. Highway 95.

This week, engineers plan to do preparatory work ahead of resurfacing work in the entire work area, which is expected to start next week, according to Ackerman. Work also is expected to continue to upgrade traffic signals along Cheyenne.

When finished, that stretch of road will also feature new or renovated medians, sidewalks, curbs, gutters and lane markings, along with new dual left-turn lanes from Cheyenne onto Buffalo and Rampart/Durango.

Drivers can expect around-the-clock lane reductions in the whole work area until the project wraps up. Alexander Road or Lake Mead Boulevard have been suggested as east-west alternates, while north-south travel is reported to be relatively unimpeded.

Jae Johnson asks: I believe you have addressed this before, but everyone at work is arguing over this issue and your answer would be appreciated. Are motorcyclists allowed to drive between the cars on the freeway? It occurs very often and seems very dangerous, but while we are moving along in snail traffic along the freeway, a motorcycle will come screaming up between the cars.

It's just another habit brought here by Californians oblivious that Nevada is its own state with its own laws. While riding a motorcycle between lanes is legal in the Golden State, it's illegal right here in the Silver State. So says the Nevada revised Statutes -- the high-and-mighty official name for the state's book of laws -- in Section 486.351:

"1. A person, except a police officer in the performance of his duty, shall not drive a motorcycle or moped between moving or stationary vehicles occupying adjacent traffic lanes. 2. Except as provided in subsection 3, a person shall not drive a motorcycle, moped or trimobile abreast of or overtake or pass another vehicle within the same traffic lane. 3. Motorcycles and mopeds may, with the consent of the drivers, be operated no more than two abreast in a single traffic lane."

I know some motorcyclists would say that driving between lanes -- known as lane-splitting -- is perfectly fine and sensible in congested areas. But I'm not sure how safe it is splitting a lane on a highway where car drivers expect passers-by to be traveling inside of lanes, and not straddling lanes.

Hit 'n Run: Now I'm a verbal artist, folks. I've written my first play! I call this one, "Scenes From Sin City Streets In Late April: A Play In Two Acts," coauthored by a pair of Road Warrior super-snitches whose names I wrote down but now can't find.

Act One: A driver witnesses another along northbound Jones Boulevard at Sahara Avenue:

There was a young lady (driving) with her left foot out the window, resting on the mirror. She was dialing her phone, driving with her elbows And she made a right turn onto Sahara. It's unbelievable.

End scene.

Act Two: A driver notices a traffic slowdown along Flamingo Road:

The one man was in a blue Mercedes, going about 35 mph in a 45 mph zone. When I passed him and looked over, he was fully engaged in picking his nose, and he was doing this for quite a while, seeing the way he was holding up traffic. Kind of indicative of people who put makeup on or talk on their cell phones when driving.

End sanity. See ya on Broadway!

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail him at roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com or OSofradzija@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.