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Traffic on westbound Desert Inn Road passes a sign incorrectly designating Buffalo Drive as Buffalo Road. County officials said the sign will be replaced.
Photo by Gary Thompson.
| Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal ROAD WARRIOR Q&A: What's In A Name? A case of mistaken designation has motorists asking why By MICHAEL SQUIRES
REVIEW-JOURNAL
This week readers want to know if a sign reading Buffalo Road will be replaced with one bearing the street's correct designation, whether ice cream trucks are required to turn down their music when they stop for business, and if the Transportation Department has plans for new interchanges south of state Route 160. • Don Schmiedel asks: On Desert Inn Road, westbound at Buffalo, the main road sign says Buffalo Road instead of Drive. Will the error be corrected? Buffalo Drive has an identity problem at its intersection with Desert Inn Road. The sign on the northwest corner of the intersection reads Buffalo Road, while the sign on the southeast corner has the street's correct designation, Buffalo Drive. In the valley, there's a Buffalo Bill Avenue, a Buffalo Clan Circle, a Buffalo Trail Drive, and on and on. But there's no Buffalo Road. County officials believe the spurious sign was erected about two years ago, when Desert Inn was widened and extended westward past Durango Drive. "It was obviously a mistake ... and we'll get it taken care of as soon as possible," said Clark County Public Works spokesman Bobby Shelton. "Thanks for bringing it to our attention." • Larry Klein asks: I have a question about those venders that drive through our neighborhoods at dinner time, playing "Old Mac Donald Had a Farm" at 60,000 decibels (exaggeration). Once they have lured the children away from a half-eaten meal and have 10 or 15 kids lined up at their trucks, is there a law or statute that says they have to shut off the God-awful noise they call music? A Las Vegas ordinance requires ice cream trucks to turn down the so-called music when they stop to do business. "I would assume it's (the ordinance) to keep from annoying people in residential areas," said Eddie Rainez, senior license officer with the city's Department of Finance and Business Services, which issues business licenses to the vendors. If that doesn't keep the peace, the city's noise ordinance also restricts anyone from playing music at a volume that can be heard clearly 50 feet from their vehicle. During its annual inspection of ice cream trucks operating in the city, Rainez said he reminds vendors of the ordinance. "We advise them that if they're playing louder than that, they're in violation of the ordinance," he said. Another bit of advice Rainez should pass along to vendors: Add a few new songs to the rotation. The first four bars of "Music Box Dancer" are wearing mighty thin. Though rare, the city receives complaints about loud ice cream trucks. But don't expect any police crackdown. "I'm not aware of any tickets being written for that," said Lt. Joe Greenwood of the Metropolitan Police Department's traffic section. • Marc Mersol asks: The state Route 160 exit off of Interstate 15 is the only exit for quite a stretch. Those motorists heading south on I-15, then east on Route 160 are now facing a severe backup. The area has been developed quite a bit, yet no new exits have been built. Is the state planning any new exits? The Nevada Department of Transportation plans to begin reconstructing the Interstate 15 interchange at state Route 160, nicknamed Blue Diamond Road, in about two years. The $62 million project will align Route 160 with Windmill Lane and widen the roadway to six lanes between Industrial Road and Windmill. A six-lane bridge over the freeway also will be built. The Transportation Department expects to begin work in October 2003 and complete the project in slightly more than three years. As far as additional interchanges, the department has plans for three new ones south of Route 160, but they're slated so far in the future that the colonization of Mars and the next Ice Age might be under way by the time they're built. Roads scheduled for improvement between Route 160 and state Route 146, also known as St. Rose Parkway: Gomer Road (another improvement that should be considered immediately is changing the name of the road), which would be constructed sometime between 2006 and 2010; Pebble Road, which would be built between 2011 and 2015; and Starr Avenue, which would get started sometime after 2016. Development in the area could change those plans, department officials said. "Everything is subject to change," said Tony Letizia, the Transportation Department's program development manager in Southern Nevada. "Those are just probable projects." If you have a question for the Road Warrior, call 387-2906 or e-mail Michael_Squires@ lvrj.com. Please include your phone number.
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