You can wave at cabdrivers as they pass on by

There seem to be tons of questions out there about what Las Vegas taxi drivers are and are not allowed to do. We have all heard the complaints about cabdrivers long-hauling passengers through the airport connector tunnel, to Interstate 215, to Interstate 15 and to the Strip. But what about the laws regarding hailing a taxi cab? Trudy’s concern leads off today’s column.

I have a friend who does not drive and depends on public transportation. She lived in New York, and the comparison to what she has to deal with in Las Vegas does not come off very favorably. She lives near downtown and on the occasion when she needs a cab to get her home or anywhere, she is not allowed to flag down a cab on the street. She has to go to one of the casinos to get a cab there. Why would there be such a rule? In any big city, I have never encountered such a restriction.

I had always heard that too and thought it was strange, Trudy. After researching the matter, I discovered that it is not as much strange as it is confusing. The Nevada Taxi Cab Authority couldn’t provide much information other than that the laws are put into place by local government.

The authority said the reason behind the law is because the government agencies believed that waving down a taxi and getting into the vehicle would disrupt traffic. You could see how this would be a problem on the Strip if a dozen people were within a quarter-mile of one another hailing cabs. But on smaller side streets?

So then I called a cabdriver. This is his explanation: If the cabdriver is on the Strip or in the resort corridor, they can only pick up passengers at cab stands, which are mostly at casinos. But say you are on a street like Eastern Avenue. If you flag down a taxi, the driver is allowed to pick you up as long as the driver pulls into a parking lot. They just can’t stop in the street. Still, a lot of cabdrivers are reluctant to do this because there is so much confusion and the drivers end up getting ticketed.

Dave wants more right-turn lanes: There are so many busy streets in this town that have no designated right-turn lanes, which means that some guy going straight is going to stay in the right lane, holding up all of us trying to make the right. Every time I drive south on Rancho Drive I turn my blinker on well before Charleston Boulevard so nobody scoots over and stops at the red light. It doesn’t seem like the brightest design.

You have to remember that when the roads were constructed decades ago, there wasn’t nearly as much traffic as there is today. But I agree, Dave, it is frustrating to be in that situation, especially if someone pulls into the right-most lane at the last minute. What I can tell you is that help is on the way .

The city of Las Vegas will be adding right-turn lanes on Rancho and Charleston. Crews are designing the $5,000 project as we speak. This, of course, will cause headaches for motorists who use those routes. Remember the mess caused by the landscaping project in the median of Rancho? The city will be working within the existing right of way, but will temporarily take over adjacent projects for its machinery.

The city will also be adding right-turn lanes on Charleston and Durango Drive.

Chuck is tired of Maryland Parkway: Once again residents in the busy southeast area are subject to tire damage, stones and glass in the treads of our tires. Why? Maryland was smooth, no ruts in the pavement and had just been repaved a year or two ago. The worst thing is after chopping up about two miles of Maryland between Twain and Sahara avenues, no one has even begun the repaving process. This is now 2 weeks old. When will it end?

Part of this project was funded by the $16.3 million Clark County received from the state’s $201 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Money from the stimulus package was to repair concrete bus stop pads . The work includes rubberized asphalt on Maryland between Twain and Sahara; with that comes new striping and lane markers. Crews are also bringing sidewalk ramps up to standards required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The repaving should be completed within two weeks.

The money received by the county amounted to 100 miles of lanes being resurfaced. The entire project should be finished within a month.

Here’s Pete: I asked you a while back if the county had any plans to add lanes to Durango Drive between Windmill Lane and Blue Diamond Road and your response was that the construction was in the planning phase and that they were looking for funds. Has that moved forward at all?

Yes, Pete, county spokesman Dan Kulin said engineers have completed 70 percent of the new road’s design and expect funding to become available in July. Kulin couldn’t pinpoint when work on Durango will start but said to expect it within the next fiscal year, which ends in July 2013.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at 702-387-2904 or send an email to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com. Include your phone number.