Friday, Aug. 30, 2002 | 4:13 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: Sept. 1, 2002
Ten years ago the Clark County Commission approved an "accelerated plan" for building the Las Vegas Beltway. The plan involved constructing the beltway first as a divided "frontage road," a hybrid of highway and city streets, and coming back later and turning it by stages into a 4-to-6 lane roadway that met interstate highway standards. The benefit was obvious -- tens of thousands of drivers diverted from Las Vegas' congested streets and highways. The downside, in hindsight, should also have been obvious -- there's no stopping the human urge to speed.
The beltway is a roadway whose sections are not uniform. Thirty-three miles of the planned 53-mile beltway are now open, but only 10 are finished to interstate standards. The other 23 are the divided "frontage road," with intersections and stop lights, many only a mile apart, and with changing speed limits. Drivers traveling from the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley to the southeast, or vice versa, are expected to note the recurring stop lights and also to note the changing speed limits and adhere to them. Unfortunately, even though five years have passed since sections of the beltway began opening, the percentage of drivers who fail to understand its intricacies remains high. The beltway's rate of 18 deaths per 1,000 accidents (based on 339 accidents in three years on the 23 miles of "frontage road") is three times the national average.
Ideally, the conversion of the beltway to full interstate standards would be accelerated so that in a few years this problem would be solved. Current planning calls for the beltway to be completed in 2020. Whether or not that timetable is expedited in the future, there is something that can be done immediately -- besides tabulating the continuing human toll. The Clark County Public Works Department estimates that it would cost $500,000 to install eye-catching signs before all the beltway intersections. Such signs at Jones Boulevard, Tropicana Avenue and Durango Drive have proven effective.
Last month the state Transportation Department balked at constructing a guard rail on U.S. 95 to separate the north and south lanes between Lone Mountain and Ann roads, despite five deaths in 14 months. Then it relented and said it would start building one in about four months. A Sun editorial, however, called for immediate construction because that dangerous section of road constituted an emergency. The Transportation Department has now announced that construction will begin this week. We believe an emergency of equal proportions exists on the beltway. The county should put aside any reservations about spending $500,000 and get to work on the signs immediately.
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