Long haul: Increased construction will make trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas worse

Jace Radke

Friday, March 1, 2002 | 11:01 a.m.

I-15 tips

Source: Nevada and California highway patrols

The professional mover has logged hundreds of thousands of miles on the country's highways, but every time he trucks across the desolate 227-mile stretch of desert on Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, he counts himself lucky when he reaches his destination.

"The road itself isn't dangerous, but the way people drive on it makes it a little scary," Collier said as he grabbed something to eat at the Travel Centers of America truck stop at Blue Diamond Road and Interstate 15. "These little cars are weaving in and out, and there is just too much traffic out there for that. People are in too much of a hurry to get to their vacation in Las Vegas or back home to L.A."

Each year more than 13 million vehicles use I-15 to cut across California's Inland Empire, through the Mojave Desert and into the neon-tinged Las Vegas Valley. There are more than 2,200 accidents on that stretch of highway every year.

Though the majority of travelers make it to their destination, about once every four days someone is killed on the highway, and multiple construction projects slated to be under way by July could make the stretch even more dangerous, Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Trooper Alan Davidson said.

"Construction will cause more congestion, and that in turn will mean more accidents," Davidson said. "You've got a situation out there right now when at certain peak times there are just too many cars for the road to handle. When space starts getting tight people lose their patience and their focus on driving."

From 1998 through 2000 an average of 88 people died annually in traffic accidents on I-15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and law enforcement agencies are bracing for tighter traffic in the corridor as a result of the scheduled construction.

Some of the projects, which will result in work on more than 70 percent of the corridor simultaneously, include continued construction of a third travel lane in each direction from Las Vegas to Primm and an additional lane in each direction between Barstow and Victorville, said Dennis Green, California Department of Transportation construction liaison.

"With so much roadwork out here people are going to have confusion," Green said during a recent I-15 planning meeting in Primm. "We haven't had as much work as we've been promising, but that's all going to change very soon."

Dallas native Brad Rakes, who drives car-carriers between Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Dallas, isn't looking forward to the prospect of additional construction.

"I'm sure the construction is going to be one of those things that'll get you cussing," Rakes said last week at the travel center. "It's already too slow and congested out here, and construction is guaranteed to snarl it more, especially when you start talking accidents."

Nevada and California Departments of Transportation officials disagree. Though they admit construction could slow traffic, they say the accident rate won't necessarily increase because of the work.

"I-15 is the lifeline to Las Vegas, the main aorta so to speak," NDOT spokesman Bob McKenzie said. "I don't see it as a dangerous roadway. We're widening it to meet the transportation needs."

Law enforcement officials will implement additional patrols in an attempt to keep traffic flowing smoothly and lawfully during construction, planned around peak travel days -- such as weekends -- when a four-hour drive to Los Angeles can become a seven- or eight-hour journey.

Work stops on holiday weekends and during travel days for Comdex, the Consumer Electronics Show, and other large Las Vegas conventions and events, McKenzie said.

Unless there is an emergency, two lanes will remain open in each direction, and any shutdowns would be scheduled during overnight hours, Caltrans spokeswoman Holly Kress said.

Collier, who drives I-15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles a couple times a month, said new construction would ultimately prove beneficial.

"Even if they keep the regular two lanes open while they work it doesn't help things right now," Collier said. "Right now you're better off laying over somewhere on a Friday or a Sunday than trying to make the drive.

"Of course a weekday can be bad too if there's an accident. Once you see that cloud of dust up ahead you know someone has wrecked, and you just start slowing down because it'll be a while."

Only a few hours into the new year authorities responded to the first fatal traffic accident in 2001 on I-15. On Jan. 1 Alan Russell Gilberg, 24, of Las Vegas was killed when the pickup he was driving about 21 miles north of the California border crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer about 3 a.m.

The 18-wheeler was traveling northbound in the slow lane, and Gilberg was traveling at a high rate of speed, highway patrol officials said.

All the usual causes of fatal accidents -- falling asleep at the wheel, drunken driving, failing to buckle up and speeding -- are present on the highway, but these factors are magnified by the ever-increasing traffic flow, California Highway Patrol officer Robert Velasco said.

"It's always busy out there, and it always will be," Velasco said.

Statistics recorded at Primm by Highway Stations radio -- which broadcasts along I-15 -- and NDOT show that vehicle traffic across the stateline has increased from about 6 million vehicles in 1985 to more than 13 million annually.

"There's a little bit of everything out there," Velasco said of the highway he has patrolled the past 12 years. "There's this barren desert, and then we get snow in the Cajon Pass. Then you get all kinds of drivers driving under all kinds of circumstances."

Tourists often have some of the worst driving habits, Davidson said.

"You get people coming to Las Vegas to vacation," Davidson said. "They don't want to sleep, so they don't, and then they're drowsy driving home. It's very common to see cars headed south on I-15 early Monday morning with pairs of feet sticking up. The driver is nodding off, and the passengers are already out."

The cactus and barren vistas that line I-15 may also play a role -- in a psychological sense -- in the number of accidents on the highway, Velasco said.

"There's not much out there other than rocks, yucca and sand, and that makes for a boring drive," Velasco said. "People just tend to drive faster out there. They want to get to their vacation or get home."

Collier said he knows of one other highway that compares to I-15 in terms of congestion and accidents.

"Interstate 4 runs between Orlando and Tampa (Fla.), and that thing can get pretty messed up," Collier said. "They've got Disney World and all those amusement parks and you see a lot of traffic going back and forth on the weekend.

"That's only about 80 miles though, so I'd say I-15 is a worse stretch."

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