Construction haulers clogging up Eastern Avenue

Lisa Snedeker

Friday, April 9, 1999 | 11:09 a.m.

People who travel the two lanes of Eastern Avenue south of Lake Mead Drive wonder why they must put up with the pebble throwing and delays and dust from construction vehicles, especially when an alternate road was built to absorb much of that traffic.

Many of the trucks are heading into or out of Anthem, Del Webb Corp.'s newest housing development, and a special road was built for those trucks. Use of that road, however, is minimal because Eastern offers the shortest haul.

Residents using the road may sometimes think they're in a Snickers commercial: Not going anywhere for awhile? Traffic backs up at the stoplight at Lake Mead Drive and Eastern, at times all the way to Horizon Ridge Parkway, a distance of about three quarters of a mile.

At a recent neighborhood meeting, residents asked city officials why a road west of the Henderson Executive Airport that leads to Del Webb's Anthem -- built specifically for construction traffic -- is not being used.

"All of us in the wild southwest are frustrated (by the traffic)," said Bill Moss, a resident who organized the meeting.

Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers verified their frustration, saying she has received a number of complaints from neighborhood communities regarding the truck traffic on Eastern.

At the March 16 council meeting, Cyphers asked the Del Webb representative, Ed Lubbers, if the company would agree to a condition to work with city staff to reduce the construction traffic as part of a comprehensive plan change Del Webb was seeking for Anthem.

Lubbers responded that Del Webb would work with staff on a solution, but he didn't feel that a formal condition was necessary.

City Manager Phil Speight said a condition requiring Del Webb to submit a traffic analysis to address traffic concerns, which includes utilization of equipment on Eastern, already exists.

Speight said that city staff would ensure construction traffic is included in the analysis and work with Del Webb to come to an agreement on how to avoid conflicts between construction trucks and residential vehicles.

But persuading construction drivers, for whom time is money, may not be so easy, according to Sean Patrick, director of public relations for Del Webb.

"You can't force them (off) because it is a public street," he said. "We can't tell contractors that they can't use it, although we strongly encourage them to use the alternative entrance."

And a good number are using the alternate route in the early morning or late afternoon when they are arriving or leaving the construction sites, according to Patrick.

"We certainly understand residents' concerns and that's why we built the alternative entrance," he said.

All of the construction traffic cannot be blamed on Del Webb.

"There is significant construction going on up and down Eastern," Patrick said, adding that two major grocery stores are among the development.

And, according to Patrick and Speight, traffic on Eastern is going to get worse, before it gets better.

Through a partnership among the property owners that line Eastern and Del Webb, portions of the thoroughfare now are being widened and eventually it will be turned into six lanes.

"That (construction) should start shortly," Patrick said. "I drive up and down Eastern every day so I will be happy to see something get done. It will get better."

Speight said the widening of Eastern is supposed to begin within the next month and a half.

In the meantime, he and Patrick said, Del Webb has put up signs encouraging construction traffic to use the alternate route.

"We're trying to do everything we can," Patrick said.

But resident Debbie Arlett, who lives in Adobe Hills off Eastern, does not agree.

"I understand we are in a new construction area, but this is ridiculous," she said at the meeting, adding she felt Del Webb should be responsible for its contractors. "I don't understand why Del Webb can't post someone (on Eastern) to give them (construction traffic) some kind of fine."