Joe’s Question:

Joe wrote in and says he’s happy that the road work extending from Maryland Parkway to the south side of St. Rose is finally done- but now he wants to know- what happened to the rest of it?! He says: “I discovered it’s sort of like an infamous bridge to nowhere. The new sections that were built are only about three blocks long! Are builders planning to put up developments around there? Even more importantly, will there be a traffic light here in the near future? One is needed here really badly!”

Melissa’s Answer:

A construction project that doesn’t finish the work?! What’s up with that? I asked authorities from the City of Henderson about it. They said the part of the road that was built, was done by the developers of the southwest corner of St. Rose and Maryland Parkway. This entire area is a classic case of different developers being responsible for improving different sections of the roads. A time frame of when these developers need to finish these improvements were not available. However, the plan is to eventually have a road connect to the extension of Sunridge Heights– which runs parallel to St. Rose. Also, the City hopes to get the funding approved for a traffic light at a City Council meeting being held on June 16th. My fingers are crossed to get that funding approved for a traffic light for Joe and everyone else who drives this area!

Many drivers around the Valley ask why there aren’t traffic lights at certain intersections– or requesting studies for ones in  busy areas that don’t have one!  With new areas still developing around town, not to mention all of the construction work– you may have found yourself stuck in traffic wondering- “why isn’t there a traffic light here?!”

So here’s the break down! When determining if an intersection needs a traffic light, a study is conducted. During the study, there are eight “traffic volume warrants” or determining factors that are looked at. All of these combined could determine if a light is needed and will be installed or not. At least one of these needs to meet the study in order to have a traffic light installed. However just one- will not always mean a traffic signal is required to be built. It depends on the intersection and what the research shows.

Warrant 1 – Eight-Hour Vehicular Volume Warrant. The volume of the traffic on the major and minor streets entering the intersection must be above a certain number during an eight hour time period on a typical day.      

Warrant 2 – Four-Hour Vehicular Volume Warrant. The volume of the traffic on the major and minor streets entering the intersection must be above a certain number for a minimum of four hours on a typical day.      

Warrant 3 – Peak Hour Warrant. The minor street traffic for a facility that attracts or discharges large numbers of vehicles of a short time suffers major delay or exceeds a certain value for only one hour of an average weekday.

Warrant 4 – Pedestrian Volume Warrant. The volume of pedestrians crossing a major street exceeds a certain number.

Warrant 5 – School Crossing. At an established school crossing, a traffic signal can be placed if the frequency and number of adequate gaps in the vehicular traffic for the number of students to safely cross does not exist.

Warrant 6 – Coordinated Signal System. To maintain the proper grouping of vehicles and to effectively regulate the group speed.

Warrant 7 – Crash Experience. When less restrictive remedies and enforcement has failed to decrease the crash rate.

Warrant 8 – Roadway Network. To encourage concentration and organization of traffic flow on major streets.

Olivia’s Question

Chances are at some point when you’ve been driving around town there’s  been a street name that has made you stop and say “huh?” or maybe “hmm…”   Two of my favorites are “Soft Breezes” and “Pleasure Lane.” Yes these are real streets! I got an email from one of our loyal channel 8 viewers, 12- year old Olivia Vultaggio. Olivia says: “How do streets get their names?”

Melissa’s Answer: 

The City and County have different ways of naming the roads but for the most part have similar processes. Roads under the County’s jurisdiction are named by the developers who build the roads. They get to pick a name, almost anything they want, as long as it’s appropriate. Then an application is filled out and submitted. The application goes through different departments and to the Fire Alarm Office to make sure it’s a new name to Las Vegas. The naming of the road happens during the construction of the road. It is a simple process! That’s why we have some interesting street names around town!