Roadside memorials subject of series of state hearings

Thursday, April 1, 2004 | 9:56 a.m.

Stephanie Fair dabbed her tears with a tissue Wednesday as she recounted how she places flowers at a small white cross at the intersection of Interstates 15 and 215, where her companion of 11 years lost his life in a car accident.

Fair, 30, visits the site where Leonel "Lonnie" Roybal, 37, died Oct. 30, 2002, in a one-car accident on his way to the Henderson home they shared.

"If I could, I'd go every day," Fair said.

The only member of the public to appear at a Nevada Transportation Department public information meeting in Las Vegas Wednesday, Fair said she preferred the state allow the white crosses, flowers and candles that make up memorials on the state's highways.

The Transportation Department is considering guidelines on roadside memorials. It could limit their size or disallow them.

In the past, the state removed highway memorials only if they posed a threat to public safety, engineer and designer Jim Souba said.

"This is a major concern, for people stopping at these memorials could be in danger," he said. "On the other hand, markers help to send a message to the rest of the world, 'Look, it could happen to you, too.' "

In hearings statewide, people have indicated a slight preference to remove all of the memorials, Souba said.

However, the issue touches people like Fair who are dealing with grief over the loss of a loved one, said Bob McKenzie, Transportation Department spokesman.

"It's an emotional issue," McKenzie said.

State officials scheduled meetings around the state on the issue after an 8-foot-high steel cross went up last year on U.S. 50 in memory of a 9-year-old South Lake Tahoe murder victim.

The two-ton cross was near the site where Krystal Steadman's body was found east of Spooner Summit in March 2000. State highway crews removed the cross in November, Souba said.

The main reason the cross was removed was because of its size. A Reno lawyer, however, brought up the issue of separation of church and state, claiming a client might file a lawsuit claiming the cross violated the separation of church and state, Souba said.

A new 3-foot white wooden cross was placed at the site in January and will remain until a state policy is approved.

Transportation Department engineer Richard Nelson said that about one person a day dies on the state's highways. On the 100-mile drive between Lovelock and Reno in Northern Nevada, Nelson said he has counted 70 roadside memorials.

Comments on the issue can be mailed to Richard J. Nelson, Nevada Transportation Department, 1263 S. Stewart St., Carson City, NV, 89712. The deadline is April 9.