U.S. 95 work won’t be kept secret

Monday, Aug. 18, 2003 | 9:07 a.m.

The Nevada Department of Transportation is changing its policy and will inform people who live near the U.S. 95 widening project when demolition is imminent.

The department tore down about 150 homes in the path of the highway's expansion between the Spaghetti Bowl and Rainbow Boulevard last month. Residents nearby told the Las Vegas Sun that although they knew the demolition would come someday, they would have liked more notice closer to the day that it happened.

The residents said dust from the demolition got into their swimming pools and homes. If they had been notified, they said, they could have been better prepared to deal with the dust.

Jeff Fountaine, NDOT director, apologized in a public letter to the residents last week.

"There should have been better communications by the department," Fountaine said. "Prior to any future demolition, the department will make every effort to notify adjacent residents."

Department officials characterized the lack of notification as an oversight in a large, complex operation. NDOT officials had earlier said that the law did not require contractors to notify the neighbors before demolition began, an answer that did not sit well with some of the residents.

At the time, they also said they would look at the policy and might make changes.

Scott Magruder, NDOT spokesman, said the department or its contractors will probably use simple "door-hangers" to notify neighbors of coming demolition work.

Magruder said the department will likely begin a new phase of demolition on nearby commercial structures some time next year.

Barbara Alessi, a resident of Chelsea Circle, a cul-de-ac just outside the demolition area off Jones Boulevard, said she was pleased that the policy was changed.

"Big government," she said, has a reputation for not listening to the problems of ordinary people.

"In this case, they did," Alessi said. "I was very surprised. It was really nice that we were heard.

"We made a difference."

The $440 million construction project started this year and by 2006 will expand the six-lane highway to 10 lanes. The project is designed to ease the traffic bottleneck on rush hours between Rainbow and downtown.