Goodsprings to get relief from trucks

Scott Reeder

Friday, Jan. 15, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

It has been a problem for years -- trucks loaded with rock roaring through the tiny hamlet of Goodsprings.

Now the problem in this community 35 miles southwest of Las Vegas is on the brink of being solved.

The trucks hauling rock from the Rainbow Quarry have been keeping some of the 170 residents awake at night.

Dust has been drifting into homes as trucks roar by.

People even worry about how safe it is to cross the street.

The quarry has been there for a long time, but the problem became more inflamed during the early part of this decade when Vegas Rock took over its operation. The volume of rock being taken from the quarry increased dramatically with the new operator.

Area residents have been pushing for a new haul road to be constructed, which would bypass the tiny community.

The county is working with Vegas Rock to solve the problem.

"The way the law is, Vegas Rock didn't have to do anything," said Patricia Cook, a spokeswoman for Clark County. "But they wanted to be a good neighbor, so they agreed to work with us."

Vegas Rock will do the initial grading work for a three-mile bypass, which will run to the north of the community, Cook said. Clark County will do additional grading work and spread gravel along the roadway.

"This is something that has been an issue for five years," she said. "Goodsprings was originally set up as a mining town. But then the ore there dried up. In the mid '90s, this other company started mining porous red rock, which has become very popular to use for landscaping."

The initial work for the project should begin in the near future, said Bobby Shelton, a spokesman for Clark County.