Placard No Paid Parking Pass
One reader wanted me to advise motorists with handicap placards that they can park in regular spaces without feeding the meter, and another wondered whether cars with the placards may park in spaces designated for side-loading vans for the handicapped.
Here we go. Thank goodness I double-checked on the first reader’s information; otherwise I would have felt responsible for a flurry of parking tickets. If you have the blue placard and park in a metered, unmarked space, you still have to pay to park. And the same goes for metered spaces marked for the disabled.
“That spot is just getting you closer to the building,” Las Vegas police officer Ramon Denby said.
As far as the second half of the question, spaces with signs indicating they’re van accessible may be used by regular vehicles equipped with the handicap placard.
Don wants to know when the Oakey Road storm drain will be finished.
This is a pain for anyone who uses this road to access Rancho Drive and probably even more so for residents along that stretch. Happy New Year, Don, that project is finally supposed to be completed on Dec. 31, according to the city’s Public Works Division.
Here is Lucy’s pet peeve: As you know, HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes have been added to some on-ramps along Interstate 15. These lanes are intended to be used by those with two or more riders in the vehicle. I’ve noticed, however, that many single-rider vehicles use the HOV lanes (while the meter is on). Are the HOV requirements enforced? If so, by whom?
As Lucy also pointed out, the ramps at Russell Road are most problematic when it comes to this issue, and Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Honea agrees. Officers will pull over a vehicle that violates HOV lane restrictions, but patrol vehicles are not stationed at the site. During commuter hours, which is when the meters are on, the patrol is either responding to accidents or focusing on stretches of the interstate where crashes are common.
Honea noted that motorists who are pulled over for violating laws related to the HOV on-ramp lane usually say they didn’t realize they were in the pass-through lane until they were all the way down the ramp.
The fine for the violation is about $190.
Doug asks: Are the very bright fluorescent blue headlamps you see on valley roads legal? I would think they pose a big safety issue being as blinding and distracting as they are.
Blue lights are never legal. Doug might be referring to halogen lights, which appear to be bluish but are actually considered a different shade of white, Honea says. Cars are not permitted to have blue or red lights on the front of a vehicle because that is considered impersonating an emergency vehicle. Unfortunately Doug, as annoying as they may be, halogen lights are perfectly legal.
Here is a question from several readers: When the heck will the on-ramps and offramps at Martin Luther King Boulevard actually open?
And here is the latest: The northbound U.S. 95 on-ramp and the southbound U.S. 95 offramp are expected to open in late September, perhaps the last day of the month. Both of the ramps are situated on the west side of Martin Luther King and north and south of the highway.
A caller asked whether she can drive into a bicycle lane to make a right turn at a stop light.
Denby says a motorist may encroach on the bike lane and make a right-hand turn unless there is a bicyclist at the stop light. In that case, drivers must pull behind the bicyclist and wait for the light to turn green before making the turn. Basically, follow the same rules you would if there were a vehicle in the right-most lane.
Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
Throughout August and perhaps into the first week of September, crews will be working on Decatur Boulevard between U.S. Highway 95 and Charleston Boulevard. Expect long delays. Also, Decatur will be reduced to two lanes in both directions through Sept. 2 just north of Oakey Boulevard all of the way to U.S. 95. Extensive road rehabilitation work is expected to be completed in September. In both instances, motorists are advised to use Jones and Valley View boulevards as alternate routes.Because of the continued work on the Tenaya Way overpass at Summerlin Parkway, the U.S. 95 southbound ramp to Summerlin Parkway west will be closed until the end of September.
For commuters and visitors traveling between Las Vegas and Southern California on Interstate 15, remember to schedule your trip around the road closures on Tuesdays and Thursdays as crews blast rocks to widen the interstate. On these days, lanes will be closed for 90 minutes, beginning at 10 a.m., between Bailey and Nipton roads. If you are going to hit that 12-mile stretch at 10 a.m., you are advised to wait in Baker, Calif., or Primm. And if you make it past one of those towns around the time the blasting is to occur, you might be greeted by a Highway Patrol vehicle, which will stop traffic and force you to sit idle on the road until lanes reopen.
