Sometimes whole city feels like a construction zone

Here's a fun little game: Upon leaving home for the Super Bowl party today, check how many times the odometer clicks before encountering your first string of orange cones.

Since this is the biggest day in football, we'll even set an over-under line: One mile. Based on my own experience -- four-tenths of a mile in each direction of home -- I'm going with the under.

Locals associate cones and barrels with Las Vegas as much as tourists associate the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign with our city. And, by the way, last time I drove past the iconic sign, it was surrounded by cones.

It seems a road construction zone sits at every turn, even along detours for streets torn up. This is irritating for motorists, but all these projects are keeping residents employed. The list of massive endeavors for the upcoming year is far shorter than the rundown of projects issued the same time last year, which might please drivers but not those who could find themselves out of work.

So, why does all this have to be done at once? The primary reason is because these road projects are mostly funded by federal stimulus monies. Governments who receive the funding have strict guidelines to abide by, and one of those is use it or lose it.

GNARLY NORTHWEST

Let's start with the poor people in the northwest valley. Crews descended on one of the community's primary arterials, Lone Mountain Road, more than a year ago. Spirit Underground, which was awarded the $9 million project, dug into the middle of the road to install 11,000 linear feet of massive concrete storm drain boxes between Decatur Boulevard and Torrey Pines Drive.

Then the Spirit crews picked up and left, apparently having run out of money. So, residents were left with detour signs all over the place. And this is one of those cases where detours were also under construction.

Then, after the city of Las Vegas hurried to work with the bonding company and finally put Perini Construction to work, Clark County came skipping along and closed Interstate 215 between Decatur and Aliante Parkway for 10 straight days. While the county installed a drainage ditch below the freeway, residents resembled a bunch of ants whose hill was just demolished, scrambling around in every direction in search of roads untouched by construction crews.

PILING ON

The Regional Transportation Commission is closing in on the designated lanes for the $40 million Sahara Avenue bus rapid transit line, but the lane closures have tested commuters' patience over the last year. While stretches of Sahara were torn up closer to downtown, other entities piled on, hitting the next two parallel arterials to the north.

First, it was deja vu on Oakey Boulevard. Wasn't it just two years ago that Oakey between Rancho Drive and Valley View Boulevard looked like a heavy equipment sales lot? Homeowners along Oakey were essentially held hostage as the street was reduced to one lane in each direction. They were freed and rewarded with a freshly paved road. Now the backhoes and front-loaders have returned, digging once again into that new layer of asphalt for what is yet another drainage project funded by the Clark County Flood Control District.

Second, the city of Las Vegas embarked on a $6.5 million storm drain project on Charleston Boulevard. The heavy equipment and giant concrete boxes are stationed between Hinson Street and Decatur Boulevard, but the lanes on Charleston begin to narrow at Campbell Avenue, making for a rough rush-hour commute. Businesses, such as the famed and newly reopened restaurant-bar Skinny Dugans, are growing frustrated by the lane restrictions. The city has no definitive completion date.

So, why not also take out the primary road that runs perpendicular to Sahara, Oakey and Charleston? The city of Las Vegas would be much obliged. Two months ago, it started its widening of Valley View Boulevard between U.S. Highway 95 and Desert Inn Road. The project is expected to be finished by July.

Doesn't it seem like we'd run out of cones and barrels at some point?

BRIDGE SLAM

By now we are familiar with the Interstate 15 design-build south project between Tropicana Avenue and Blue Diamond Road. Commuters can probably navigate the different road configurations in their sleep by now. The $240 million doozy of a job includes the widening of the freeway, revamping of interchanges and creation of two new frontage roads that will flank either side of the interstate. That's fine, we can deal with the lane restrictions for another few months.

But wait, there's more. Of course there is more.

Not long ago, once commuters cleared the Interstate 15-Las Vegas Beltway interchange they were pretty much free and clear until they ventured off the freeway where they were sure to meet more construction.

But Clark County just started widening the 215 between the interchange and Windmill Lane, blocking off more lanes with cones. That work, which will continue for the next two years, includes the widening of bridges on Paradise Road, Warm Springs Road, Robindale Road and the airport connector tunnel.

RAINBOW SWERVE

And in case you think you can find a peaceful ride on one of our freeways, think again. We have U.S. Highway 95, which seems to be under some sort of construction all the time. The Nevada Department of Transportation is working on installing a high-occupancy vehicle flyover from northbound U.S. 95 to westbound Summerlin Parkway.

This weekend, we experienced the closure of the highway with traffic being routed onto Rainbow Boulevard and then back onto the freeway. Expect this setup to happen again next weekend.

■ ■ ■

So why are more projects started before others are finished? It's all about the money. Use it or lose it.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at 702-387-2904, or send an email to roadwarrior @reviewjournal.com. Include your phone number.