On-ramp lights turned on

Stephen Curran

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

Most motorists appeared to at least tap their brakes when they got the red light from newly installed traffic control signals at three busy U.S. 95 on-ramps.

Others, however, accelerated past the red lights as they merged onto the freeway. Then, in their rear-view mirrors, they saw another set of red lights -- atop a Nevada Highway Patrol car.

The on-ramp traffic lights along the freeway in Las Vegas were switched on for the first time today along the southbound ramps for westbound and eastbound Lake Mead Boulevard and the southbound on-ramp at Cheyenne Avenue.

Trooper Angie Chavera, a spokeswoman for the highway patrol, said the agency would not know until later today how many tickets its troopers wrote this morning. One trooper ticketed at least six drivers, Chavera said. No accidents were reported at the on-ramp.

"We've had quite a few people run them," she said at 6:30 this morning, about a half-hour after the lights were switched on. "We could be writing tickets all morning."

The lights, which cost about $50,000 apiece, were operating between 6 and 9 a.m. today and were to be back on between 3 and 6 p.m., Niel Rohleder, system manager for the Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation, the operating system that governs the lights, said this morning.

The idea is for the lights to be on during peak traffic times, so the operational hours will likely vary somewhat from day to day, he said.

At 7 a.m. today, roughly one-third of vehicles traveling through the Cheyenne Avenue on-ramp failed to stop for the red lights, despite digital signs nearby warning drivers to stop and despite a noticeably heavy NHP presence.

"Between the radio and print advertisements there's only so much we can do," Regional Transportation Commission spokeswoman Ingrid Reisman said after seeing a car run the light at the southbound U.S. 95 on-ramp at Cheyenne Avenue.

The RTC, a key supporter of the project, had launched a campaign that included radio advertisements, 15-second television commercials and a number of articles appearing in the RTC-sponsored "On the Move" online newsletter and ClubRide magazines to warn drivers of the fines that will be levied against drivers who run the red lights, she said.

The lights have been credited with reducing crashes 24 percent in Minneapolis and 39 percent in Seattle.

The county agency is also hoping the fact that drivers in the far left carpool lane and motorcycles do not have to stop for the lights will reduce the number of motorists driving alone.

"We've never had these (ramp lights) before so we don't know what to expect," Chavera said Monday. "... They (drivers) have had an adequate warning about the signs. A lot of people travel to California and they're expected to know how they work. A red light means stop. I've said it a hundred times."

The most challenging part, Reisman and others have said, will be getting drivers used to stopping before entering the freeway in the morning and evening rush hours.

The freeway on-ramp traffic lights are part of the larger FAST system and includes traffic monitoring cameras and electronic traffic information signs. A second phase calls for installation of more of the freeway entrance control lights along U.S. 95 at the Fourth Street/Casino Center Boulevard northbound ramp, Las Vegas Boulevard and Eastern Avenue.