Letter: Las Vegas needs to rethink how it handles traffic

Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999 | 9:39 a.m.

Anyone who would subscribe to the use of timing lights to control the flow of traffic onto freeways needs to be committed.

California, the most incompetent state in the world has added to its congestion with the implementation of these lights. The backup, resulting while vehicles wait for an inane green light before entering a freeway, causes additional and uncontrollable gridlock on the roads and freeways behind the lights. I fully understand California's use of this method as it is the least citizen friendly state in existence.

Las Vegas needs programmed traffic signals, intelligently applied, which cannot be accomplished with the people currently employed in this department, as they have no clue what they are doing.

Furthermore, we need the police to issue citations to traffic impeders, who are in abundance in this valley and cause most of the traffic problems and accidents. Lastly, we need to eliminate the ridiculous "right turn only lanes" during rush hours, thereby creating an additional lane for rush hour traffic.

I realize that it is an exercise in futility to write you, as our mayor and council people are so involved with their headline grabbing nonissues while neglecting the real problems, that nothing positive or constructive will ever be accomplished.

MARK STEWART