Blue Diamond Road improvements expected to relieve congestion, promote safety, officials say
When the Mountain’s Edge neighborhood took root in 2004, State Route 160 was just a two-lane highway to Pahrump that looked as if it was in the middle of nowhere.
What a difference a decade makes.
Even with a recession that slowed most Southern Nevada development to a crawl beginning in 2007, Mountain’s Edge became one of the nation’s fastest-growing areas. Route 160 is now a major arterial for residents making their way to Interstate 15 and is the last stretch of highway between Pahrump and Las Vegas.
“It’s a place where private growth outpaced public infrastructure,” said Mark Leon, president of the Mountain’s Edge Master Association board of directors.
“Now, we have about 11,000 homes with another 1,000 being built,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got about 25,000 residents in the area.”
With development outpacing road needs, Mountain’s Edge residents approached state Sen. Becky Harris, R-Las Vegas, and Assemblyman Brent Jones, R-Las Vegas, for help since State Route 160 — also known as Blue Diamond Road — is a state highway.
The state Transportation Board acknowledged in February how the section of Blue Diamond between El Capitan Way and Fort Apache Road in southwest Clark County was becoming a danger zone for pedestrians and bicyclists as well as motorists. State officials did not immediately have crash statistics for the area, but the area’s residents said there’s no way to calculate the pain from the loss of a loved one in a traffic accident.
Mountain’s Edge residents were frustrated with their inability to turn onto eastbound Blue Diamond because of traffic blasting in from the west at more than 60 mph. The number of accidents mounted as lines of traffic stretched back into the development at the intersection during rush-hour commutes. The Transportation Department estimates that 42,000 vehicles use the road on an average day.
Now, the traffic from the west will have reason to slow down as the Transportation Department agreed to spend $2.37 million to install traffic signals at El Capitan and Fort Apache, crosswalks at those intersections, paving and sidewalk upgrades. The project also will include paving Fort Apache between Blue Diamond and West Gomer Road.
The funds came from $10 million the state Transportation Board dedicated to pedestrian safety improvements.
When the project is completed in October, it should ease the frustrations in Mountain’s Edge and make it easier to cross Blue Diamond.
“It’s a perfect example of a local community working with the Legislature and the state government,” Jones said at a groundbreaking event Monday afternoon.
Jones, Harris, Leon, state Transportation Board member Tom Skancke and Assistant Department of Transportation Director Tracy Larkin participated in the ceremonial groundbreaking, which occurred on the date of the nationwide kickoff of National Infrastructure Week.
Larkin said the project will “relieve congestion, promote safety and provide jobs.”
Las Vegas Paving is the general contractor for the project, which is the latest of several Route 160 improvement efforts. In 2009 and 2010, Blue Diamond was widened to eight lanes just west of I-15 and a flyover bridge was built to move traffic from Blue Diamond to northbound I-15.
In 2014, the department completed a traffic signal at Blue Diamond and Cimarron Road, just east of the new project.
The state also is completing a 5-mile widening of the highway west from State Route 159, the road to Blue Diamond and Red Rock Canyon, expected to be completed in early 2018.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta
