Project Neon takes a safe and smart route
The Spaghetti Bowl interchange in downtown Las Vegas isn’t just going to be safer when construction on the $1 billion Project Neon wraps up in July 2019.
It’s also going to be smarter.
Real-time information about accidents, lane restrictions and detours will be flashed to motorists driving past 52 new high-resolution electronic Active Traffic Management signs along Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95.
The largest marquees will measure 13 feet tall and 77 feet wide — roughly the size of video billboards found at sports stadiums.
Last week, crews started placing foundations and support columns for the first 12 signs, which also will be able to post decreased speed limits during heavy traffic, aimed at reducing delays caused by accidents and stop-and-go conditions.
Another 40 electronic signs will gradually be erected as far south as Silverado Ranch Boulevard and I-15 by 2019, said Tony Illia, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation.
A system of sensors lining the freeway will detect heavy congestion, car crashes, bad weather and other conditions that could impact traffic, Illia said. That real-time information is immediately relayed to the full-color digital signs, displaying the status of every lane.
“The signs are far more sophisticated than the existing dynamic signage, showing travel times to freeway exits,” Illia said. “Also, they can be programmed to inform motorists of lane closures and blockages that occur with traffic accidents or construction.”
Once the concrete support columns are in place, steel gantries will be installed to support the signs.
The first three signs will be erected along northbound U.S. 95 by June and be operating by September, Illia said. Another three signs will be switched on shortly afterward along southbound Interstate 15, followed by another three along southbound U.S. 95.
State officials said they hope to see similar success that was reported on Interstate 5 in Seattle, where similar traffic-monitoring equipment led to a 14 percent drop in crashes during weekends.
Other cities across the country reported similar results with the technology, resulting in fewer deaths, injuries and commuter delays, Illia said. More than 300,000 vehicles travel daily along the Spaghetti Bowl interchange, which averages three accidents per day.
“The greatest benefit is crash reductions, especially on weekends,” Illia said. “This is attributable to ‘non-commuter’ drivers who may not be familiar with the area, which is especially relevant in Las Vegas where large numbers of tourists drive the I-15 corridor daily.”
NO SIGNAL — YET
Hermon from North Las Vegas wanted to know whether city officials planned to get rid of the four-way stop signs and install a traffic signal at Centennial Parkway and Pecos Road.
“It seems that there are a lot of employees and veterans who use the VA Medical Center nearby, as well as employees from Nellis Air Force Base,” Hermon wrote in an email to the Road Warrior. “It’s not even that well lit at night.”
Unfortunately, there aren’t any immediate plans to install a signal at this intersection, North Las Vegas city spokeswoman Delen Goldberg said. But with the rapid growth in the area, city officials anticipate that a signal will likely be installed — someday. The good news is that some of the infrastructure for a signal is already installed.
“There are very exciting plans in the works this year for the land surrounding the VA Medical Center, so growing traffic patterns may very well call for a signal to be installed sooner rather than later,” Goldberg said.
In the meantime, city officials will keep an eye on traffic counts at this intersection.
POCKMARKED RAMPS
A couple of you wrote the Road Warrior to ask about the deep potholes in the Eastern Avenue onramps and offramps to the 215 Beltway.
Darryl from Las Vegas noted that “a lot of money was sent on beautification, but this is an onramp, not an artist’s colony.” Terri wondered if the repairs won’t come until the potholes grow into sinkholes, and eventually swallow a car.
Relief is on the way, Darryl and Terri. The ramps at Eastern and the 215 Beltway will be repaved this spring, Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said.
SIGNAL PLANNED
Marsha wanted to know whether a traffic signal will be installed at Sunset Road and Buffalo Drive in the southwest area of the Las Vegas Valley.
“With all the new home construction in the area, the intersection has terrible back-ups, especially from 4 to 6 p.m.,” Marsha wrote in an email. “I’ve timed the waits a few times at 10 minutes, and that isn’t acceptable.”
There are plans to eventually install a signal at Sunset and Buffalo, Kulin said. Designs are expected to start sometime later this year.
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