Deadly Vegas intersection gets traffic light
A homemade tribute to a teenage girl who died 10 months ago still stands at the corner of Blue Diamond and Cimarron roads.
On Thursday, the memorial commemorating the life of Helen Liu stood in the bright sunlight a few feet from where state and county officials at a shaded podium applauded the teamwork it took to fund, design, build and activate a traffic signal at the intersection.
Rudy Malfabon, director of the Nevada Transportation Department, said it was the fastest he has ever seen a traffic signal project approved, funded and completed.
Fast Trac Electric lived up to its name in completing the $1.4 million project. And the company even offered to work around the memorial.
The signal went live Wednesday morning, slowing Blue Diamond Road traffic that flows at 55 mph. That is probably how fast the pickup that struck Liu and two other pedestrians was traveling on the night of the November accident.
Although state and county officials were happy about how quickly the signal was installed, the message they sent at Thursday’s dedication was that motorists and pedestrians must continue to be vigilant about safety and that the installation doesn’t replace the need for responsibility.
“This won’t stop potential accidents from happening,” said Assemblyman James Healey, D-Las Vegas, “but it will make it a safer place to live and to commute from.”
Healey, state Sen. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, and Clark County Commissioner Susan Brager, who represents the area, credited Gov. Brian Sandoval with the fast turnaround on the project.
“I think the governor really took this one to heart,” Healey said.
The signal project was on the drawing board well before the tragedy occurred but was bogged down by a lack of funding brought on by the recession. The intersection is on the periphery of the 7,800 rooftops of the Mountain’s Edge planned community and the Wright Elementary and Canarelli Middle schools.
Malfabon met with residents of the area after the tragedy and credited them with being civil with elected officials at a time of potential anger.
He immediately initiated a study of traffic “warrants” — conditions that determine whether an intersection should have a traffic signal. Among the warrant reviews are traffic counts, the number of accidents near the intersection and a study of the types of maneuvers motorists commonly make at an intersection.
The study proved that a signal was needed.
Malfabon brought the project to the Transportation Board, which authorized the use of state funds to pay for it because the project hadn’t been budgeted.
The new signal enables pedestrians to stop Blue Diamond traffic, and the intersection now has marked crosswalks.
Malfabon said now that the signal is in place, engineers will continue to study the area to determine whether the 55 mph speed limit should be reduced.
Blue Diamond Road carries traffic as state Route 160 between Interstate 15 and Pahrump.
Earlier this week, transportation officials said they are close to beginning a project to widen the highway to four lanes between Mountain Springs and the intersection with state Route 159.
Officials said a traffic study conducted on the intersection of Route 160 and Route 59 — the road to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area — concludes there isn’t enough traffic to warrant a traffic signal there.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta.
