Gravel-route compromise made

Steve Sebelius

Thursday, June 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Gravel trucks will continue to rumble through a northwest Las Vegas neighborhood, although the haulers will "do our best" to limit trucks on the road between midnight and 4 a.m.

William Stoddard, an attorney for Nevada Ready Mix and other companies using the gravel haul route on Alexander Road and Tenaya Way, said Wednesday the firms have reached an agreement with the city, which had previously tried to ban trucks from the road from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

"We'll voluntarily do our best," to avoid using trucks during the midnight-to-4 a.m. period, Stoddard told the City Council at its regular meeting. "We feel we can show the people who live in this area ... that we'll cooperate, we're good neighbors, we're good citizens."

Regardless, the problem will be solved in about eight months, when Clark County builds a new gravel haul route along a power line road to Fort Apache Road to Centennial Parkway. The new haul route is part of a two-week old compromise between Las Vegas and the county.

The compromise, a major step after months of squabbling between members of the two governments, will see the western segment of the Las Vegas Beltway finished years ahead of schedule, giving northwest residents another way to get to the southern half of the valley without using clogged U.S. 95.

But the most welcome news for Alexander Road-Tenaya Way residents was the gravel haul agreement, which could end years of living with the noise and pollution of gravel trucks at all hours. According to a city survey taken on a single day in March, a total of 1,176 trucks used the road, 408 of which drove by between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Councilman Matthew Callister authored a rule prohibiting the trucks from using the road during those hours, but it was struck down by District Judge Donald Mosley, who ruled the gravel companies were not given enough notice of the hearing.

The ban appeared on the council's agenda Wednesday, but instead of debating it, Callister and Stoddard announced an agreement to restrict use of the road from midnight to 4 a.m.

According to the city survey, only 21 trucks used the road between those hours.

"Do they love the deal? No. But they'll endure it for eight months," Callister said of his constituents. Besides, a renewed attempt to ban the trucks during nighttime hours would just have sparked a lawsuit that would have taken longer than building the new haul route, he said.

Alexander Road in the northwest was built by the gravel haul companies in 1987 as a direct route to gravel pits, which provide concrete for construction projects ranging from roads to casinos. Residents who moved in were told the road was used by gravel trucks, but that the permit to use the road would expire in 1997. However, the gravel companies are allowed to use the road so long as their trucks outnumber other traffic.