Henderson City Council: City reserves right to widen avenue

Valerie Miller

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1999 | 12:04 p.m.

Despite protests from some residents, the Henderson City Council voted to go ahead with plans to widen Eastern Avenue.

The City Council voted 4-0 to approve the city's Master Streets and Highways Plan, which includes reserving the right to widen Eastern Avenue from its current 100-foot right-of-way to a 120-foot right-of-way between Serene Avenue and Anthem Parkway, which leads into Del Webb's Anthem master-planned community.

The widening, which would allow Eastern to accommodate six lanes of traffic, brought out residents from surrounding communities who feared the effects of expanding the street.

Residents claim that if Eastern is expanded, the long-term effects will be crime, pollution, traffic congestion and an overall disintegration of their neighborhood.

"I lived for two years close to the Pacific Coast Highway" in Southern California, Cheri Norton said. "We bought here because it was designated residential. My front door faces Eastern and I want it to stay 100 feet."

Some residents felt that it was unjust that they had to keep coming before the city to fight the widening.

"I moved back to Henderson a year ago after a 10-year absence, because of all the places we lived, Henderson was the place we wanted to call home," said Karen Sexton of the nearby Sandy Ridge Estates. "I feel that I have been treated unfairly. I have done research and gone to meetings, and I don't feel like I should have to go to such lengths to protect my home and investment.

"What you are asking us to swallow is a six-lane highway, which will obliterate the aesthetics of our neighborhood," Sexton told the council.

The city should consider the cost to taxpayers of condemning the property to widen Eastern along with doing a traffic study and considering an alternative north-south route to use as an entrance to the Del Webb's Anthem master-planned community, Sexton suggested.

"This (Eastern) will be the only road out of Anthem, and there will be bumper-to-bumper traffic," Norton said. "This will destroy our neighborhood. This (widening) is not the only answer, but it is the most expedient one."

The City Council members, however, said that it was the only viable answer to prepare for the explosive growth that has already begun to take place in the area.

"We have to realize and accept that development is coming," Councilman Steve Kirk said.