The shortest distance between two addresses isn’t on Durango
Let’s get the answers out of the way first.
Yes.
Eventually.
It’s the asphalt’s fault.
April.
The questions follow (with more detailed answers in three out of four cases).
Arnold wrote in with my favorite one: “Hi: Is there a way to calculate the distance between two addresses by the street number? For example: going from the 3000 block of West Charleston to the 5000 block of West Charleston, is that exactly one mile or what? Are the north/south numbers on the same scale? My last question is what are the north/south and east/west zero points?”
I may have mentioned here once or twice that I delivered pizza for a bunch of years in this town before I learned how to use Twitter. So I already knew the answer to this one.
But I asked the professionals anyway. Just in case.
The zero east-west divider is Main Street in downtown Las Vegas. As you go south, Main disappears, of course. That’s when Las Vegas Boulevard takes over. Going north, because Main doesn’t go straight, Goldfield Street becomes the divider.
The north-south divider on the east end of town is Charleston Boulevard. It’s Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas and then becomes U.S. 95 until you hit the Rainbow Curve. Then it’s Westcliff Drive until that road peters out a few miles later. Up there in Summerlin, where all the roads seem to curve in on themselves like an Ouroboros (That’s a snake eating its own tail. I looked it up.), it’s a mish-mash of streets, though mostly it’s Far Hills Avenue.
Here’s the cool part: There is, indeed, a system for addresses.
Flinn Fagg, the city of Las Vegas’ planning director, said they typically make the addresses go by 100 per block. Each block is about 500 feet long. Do the math and you get roughly one mile for every 1,000. Ain’t that cool?
If you’re at University Medical Center at 1800 West Charleston, for example, and you want to get to the Target up in Boca Park, at 8750 West Charleston, you know you’ve got a roughly seven-mile drive ahead of you.
Ta-da.
Jason wanted to know why the street signs weren’t put up on the overpasses after the U.S. 95 project was finished in the northwest part of town, revamping the freeway from Washington Avenue to Ann Road.
Damon Hodge, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation, said there wasn’t enough money to put the signs up in phase one. But the signs will be added when phases two and three are done. Whenever that is. The money hasn’t been allocated for those phases, which will remake the freeway all the way to Kyle Canyon Road.
Joan wanted to vent a little bit. “We travel Durango from Tropicana to Flamingo and north daily and have not encountered another road so torn up,” she wrote. She wondered why it was such a mess and when it will be fixed.
It is kind of a mess up there. It wasn’t the worst road I’ve ever driven — I did live in Mississippi for a few years — but it’s all kinds of bumpy.
Dan Kulin, a Clark County spokesman, said the county is well-aware of the problem. The asphalt is bubbling or blistering or whatever you want to call it. Workers smoothed it out a while back, but it’s not a permanent solution.
He said there’s something squirrelly with the asphalt. That’s what the lab tests said, anyway. (No, he did not actually use the word “squirrelly,” but it’s essentially what he said.) No one is sure what the problem is. It’s weird, because the county used that same asphalt in other places and it’s working just fine. They don’t use that asphalt mix anymore, anyway. So it really doesn’t matter why it bubbled up.
In any case, Kulin said they will be redoing the road sometime this year, though exactly when is still up in the air.
Don must live out in the dusty southwest part of town because he asked when Buffalo Drive will be open out near Russell Road and the 215. “Sure does seem like it’s been closed a very long time,” he wrote.
I ran the question by Kulin. It was much easier to answer than the asphalt question.
Here’s what he said in an email: “April.”
If you have a question, tip or tirade, send an email to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com. Include your phone number.
Road Work Ahead
■ Interstate 15 between Lake Mead Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue, lanes reduced in both directions, 8 p.m. Wednesday to 6:30 a.m. Thursday, and again 8 p.m. Thursday to 6:30 a.m. Friday for bridge construction.
■ Decatur Boulevard at Vegas Drive, street disruptions through Friday for a new pedestrian crossing.
■ Fremont Street, between Las Vegas Boulevard and 10th Street, will be closed between noon March 21 and 10:30 p.m. March 22 for the Mint 400 meet and greet.
■ The intersection of Desert Foothills and Alta drives will be closed through Aug. 22 for rebuilding.
■ Vegas Drive, between Rancho Drive and Jones Boulevard, lane restrictions through January for street improvements.
■ Eastbound Sahara Avenue at Boulder Highway, detour through March 30 for storm drain project.
■ Bradley Road closed at Las Vegas Beltway through April 18 for bridge work.
■ Northern part of the Las Vegas Beltway at Bradley Road, lanes shifted for months for bridge work.
■ Buffalo Drive at Vegas Drive, daytime lane restrictions through April 28 for street improvements.
■ Jones Boulevard, from U.S. Highway 95 to Sahara Avenue, delays through April 30 for widening.
■ Valley View Boulevard, from U.S. 95 to Desert Inn Road, delays through June 30 for road widening.
■ Bonneville and Clark avenues, between Las Vegas Boulevard and Maryland Parkway, lane restrictions through January for street improvements.
■ F Street, between McWilliams and Wilson avenues, closed for Interstate 15 construction.
Gasoline Prices
The average price of gasoline Tuesday in the Las Vegas Valley was $3.80 per gallon; the state average was $3.80; the national average was $3.68. The highest average price was in Hawaii at $4.41; the lowest was in Wyoming at $3.25.
