Paving the way
The Nevada Department of Transportation takes a lot of heat from drivers in these parts for what seems to be an endless cycle of stop-and-start road improvement projects.
Who could blame a newcomer if he thought the Nevada state symbol was the orange traffic barrel?
So give the agency a ton of credit for putting the pedal to the metal when it came to repaving the busiest stretch of roadway in the entire state.
Early Monday morning, work crews with Fisher Sand & Gravel wrapped up a 50-hour marathon paving project on Interstate 15 between the U.S. Highway 95 interchange and Tropicana Avenue. Working around the clock over the weekend, some 93 crew members removed 405,226 feet of paint, replaced almost 37,000 raised pavement markers and used 94 miles worth of material to seal cracks before applying 10,300 tons of crumb rubber to the six-lane, five mile stretch of highway. More than two dozen pieces of equipment were used to repair and strip the road and lay the asphalt.
Instead of frustrating motorists up to its scheduled Oct. 20 completion, the work was finished 10 days ahead of time.
NDOT officials made the decision to go forward with the speedy work after rain had slowed down the project. It was the right call -- and an approach the agency should consider using more often when possible. For many local drivers, it's far easier to deal with one massive traffic migraine than an endless, constant, pounding headache.
