Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
ROAD WARRIOR Q&A: New Interchange Few Years Down Road
Relief along I-15 at Silverado Ranch needed now, reader says
By MICHAEL SQUIRES
REVIEW-JOURNAL
This week readers want to know when a new interchange will be built on Interstate 15 south of Blue Diamond Road, why the electronic signs on U.S. Highway 95 stated Sunday morning that the freeway was closed after it had opened, and where the water is coming from for the landscaping being installed in the median of Boulder Highway.
• F. Anthony asks: The people here in Southern Highlands are growing very concerned. The traffic congestion at the Blue Diamond Road and Interstate 15 interchange is getting ridiculous. St. Rose Parkway and I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard is nuts as well. The population out here has swelled past both streets' capacity. When will we see some relief in the way of an interchange between Blue Diamond and St. Rose?
Relief for south valley residents, in the form of an I-15-Gomer Road/Silverado Ranch Boulevard interchange, is at least a couple of years away.
Clark County tentatively plans to begin the project next summer or fall, but obtaining approval from the Federal Highway Administration and the Nevada Department of Transportation could delay work on the $13.5 million structure.
"We hope to have it designed this time next year and be starting construction in late summer or early fall," said Clark County Public Works spokesman Bobby Shelton.
A study completed several years ago by the Nevada Department of Transportation, identified Gomer/Silverado Ranch, Cactus Avenue, Pebble Road and Starr Avenue as sites for future interchanges as the south valley develops.
Gomer/Silverado Ranch surfaced as the first candidate, not simply for its poetic name, but because it's located halfway between the Blue Diamond and St. Rose interchanges.
• A reader asks: Sunday morning while driving south on U.S. Highway 95 at 5:30 a.m., both message boards at Lake Mead and Jones boulevards had this message: "U.S. 95 closed at Valley View, use alternate routes." Knowing the Nevada Department of Transportation, I took a chance and the freeway was open and functioning normally with no construction workers in sight at Valley View. If NDOT cannot have accurate message board information, why are the motorists to believe the signs?
At different times three agencies have a hand in the operation of the freeway message signs: the Transportation Department, the Nevada Highway Patrol and the Las Vegas Area Computer Traffic System.
To notify motorists of the closure at Valley View last Saturday night and Sunday morning, the Transportation Department had asked LVACTS to run the signs from 10 p.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday.
When the freeway opened earlier than expected on Sunday morning, there were no technicians in LVACTS' bunker under the freeway to shut off the signs. The only agency capable of turning them off at that hour was the Highway Patrol.
"The Highway Patrol would be the only ones available that early on a Sunday morning," said Niel Rohleder, manager of the Las Vegas Area Computer Traffic System. "We don't have staff on 24/7, and without staff on, we've got to rely on the Highway Patrol to help us."
Unfortunately, on Sunday morning the Highway Patrol didn't know to turn off the signs.
"We've already written a memo, and next time we've advised LVACTS and NDOT to notify us immediately when it opens," said Trooper Angie Wolff.
• Michael Norvise asks: I drive Boulder Highway from Nellis Boulevard to Sunset Road everyday and I see that they are putting a lot of trees and shrubs in the median south of U.S. 95. My question is where are they going to get the water for all these plants with the water shortage that we are having here?
The restrictions on landscaping prompted by Southern Nevada's apocalyptic drought focus on turf, not the types of desert trees and shrubs being planted in the median of Boulder Highway, officials said.
"It's rocks and shrubbery," Shelton said. "It's not going to take a lot of water."
The plants will be watered using a drip system rather than sprinklers, which will also reducing the amount of water consumed, Shelton said.
Casinos along Boulder Highway will finance and maintain the project.
If you have a question for the Road Warrior, call 387-2906 or e-mail MSquires@ reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.
