Las Vegas Sun News
Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
A view of traffic on I-15 looking northbound from the new Warm Springs Road overpass Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Officials celebrated the “grand opening” of the I-15 South Design-Build Project with a ceremony Wednesday. Construction on the $246 million highway improvement project started in Spring 2010.
Monday
8 October 2012
1:55 a.m.
Richard N. Velotta
Related content
Sun archives
It’s evident every time I go for a drive just how bad the motorists of Southern Nevada are.
And I’m not just talking about the tourists who pay more attention to the Strip lights and the hot-babes-will-come-to-your-room billboards.
It’s us.
We speed, cut off and tailgate on our commutes every day, treating Interstate 15 like a NASCAR track. Not a day goes by that I don’t see a high-speed moving violation on my commute between home and work.
It has gotten worse now that upgrades have been completed on I-15 south of Tropicana Avenue and there are all sorts of new highway stripes motorists pay little attention to.
As I recently watched drivers dart in and out of the delineated express lanes that our friendly tourists are indirectly responsible for, it occurred to me that maybe locals don’t understand how they’re supposed to be used. So I cornered Rudy Malfabon, the newly appointed director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, to explain it.
The general rule of thumb: If you see double white stripes on the road, don’t cross them. They mark express lanes and were put in to separate commuters from tourists exiting I-15 to get to the resort corridor.
Tourists helped pay for the express lanes. The Legislature decided to take room tax originally designated for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to market the city and give it to NDOT to spend on roads projects instead.
The express lanes used to be separated from the other lanes by plastic “candlestick” markers, but drivers kept running them over. Malfabon said they aren’t coming back.
Another new addition on I-15 is dotted double white lines. That’s where you’re supposed to cross in and out of the express lanes.
It’s a little confusing farther south. Malfabon said it’s all right to cross in and out of a single express lane, but those, too, are marked with double white stripes.
In many respects, they’re like the U.S. 95 HOV (“high-occupancy vehicle”) diamond lanes. On those, motorists also can cross over and back to pass.
Still, you regularly see vehicles without passengers using those lanes during the posted hours of use — 6 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
It’s apparent that NDOT or maybe the Regional Transportation Commission needs to do an educational campaign to explain the rules of HOV and express lanes and what the fines are for violating them – not that our motorists would necessarily pay attention to them.
Utah recently marked special lanes of I-15 in the Provo-Salt Lake City-Ogden area, including toll lanes, as a means of controlling traffic while generating revenue. The lanes are well-marked and feature variable message signs that change the amount of the toll based on traffic volume. It’s easy to understand where and when you can cross in and out of lanes and how much it’s going to cost to use them.
The so-called “Lexus lanes” have been an idea for Nevada for several years, but lawmakers haven’t had the votes to approve tolling in the state.
In the meantime, it’s a good idea to get used to all the rules because eventually our express lanes are going to become HOV lanes when NDOT ramps up for Project Neon, a major overhaul of the freeway just south of the Spaghetti Bowl that bottlenecks every rush hour. The orange cones still are years away, but it can’t hurt for drivers to get a jump start on the rules.
And while you’re at it, lighten up on the speeding, tailgating and misbehaving on the highway. We all want to get home at night.
Share
Join the Discussion:
Previous Discussion:
Discussion 8 comments
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
Most Popular
- Genting planning art exhibits, dragon dancers — even before Resorts World opens
- For Tom Cunningham and most other stabbing victims, much pain, no justice
- County OKs replacing Strip eyesore with casino preview centers
- North Las Vegas set to decide on controversial mortgage-seizure plan
- Dynasty hotel-casino could open in Las Vegas by 2015
Put a bunch of Nevada State cops on that stretch of the road & issue constant traffic tickets. It's an easy source of revenue & it'll eventually slow people down. Problem solved.
Serial "lead footers" who live here get tickets. That's a fact. There's no way around it. I've seen enough people pulled over for speeding to know that it isn't worth it and you will get caught and ticketed. Maybe some don't care but for those who watch their pennies, don't speed.
It's become a nation of "me's" who have ditched common courtesy on the roadways and life in general. These articles are nice but those that read them aren't the problem. A lot of them are the same people who guzzle 3 Heinekens at the casino and then get in their car. These are the people who don't signal, they tailgate and they speed. They aren't reading this article. Chances might be they can't read, period.
It always seems to take a while for drivers to figure this stuff out. Inform, again and again and if it gets too bad, warning work.
Overall as a part-time resident, I think LV traffic is "laid back" and pretty easy to navigate. Compared to Minneapolis or Chicago, etc.
For a few years now I have been commenting on this very subject. Drivers are extremely poorly trained. We should have to take defensive driving courses to get a license. No one should be on the road without skills required to handle a vehicle in all weather conditions, during emergency situations with with vehicle training in loss or vehicle control. But texting is far beyond the worst thing to ever hit the roadways. I think since the law was instated more people text while driving then ever before. We really do have some of the most pathetic drivers around. Everyone should be trained like the cops, the truck drivers and other professional vehicle drivers. But common courtesy cannot be taught it has to come from within.
Another area local drivers need to be retrained on: right-of-way. They have absolutely NO CONCEPT on what that term means. When I come to an intersection at the same time another car does, a car that has the RIGHT-OF-WAY, and that driver waits and waits and waits. And waits for me to move, even though I do not have the right of way. It's frustrating. And maddening. This could be the subject of another article, Mr. Velotta.
Ha ha ha! VERY Steven Colbert! You should do stand-up comedy, Richard.
The problem has nothing to do with, "knowing the rules of the road." The problem, in a nut shell, is that too many Southern Nevadans elect to not follow the rules that they already do know. This is a town where, for whatever reason(s) people feel that they should be judgmental of other people when they do not comply with rules, but need not follow rules themselves. Just looking at the red-light runners and speeders in this town proves my point. By "refreshing" these peoples' knowledge you would simply be giving them more rules to knowingly ignore.
Even when the economy was riding high we could not afford enough police officers to enforce the traffic laws. I call for robo-cops: roadside photo-RADAR units and red-light runner cameras. The stats bear out the claim that there is a huge governmental interest in curtailing the carnage on our roads. Sure the libertarian Panforte crowd is going to whine about their liberty being violated. But the compelling interest we all have in putting the smack-down on the gigantic number of people who speed and run traffic signals justifies the infringement until the problem is brought within normal statistical ranges.
If you do not believe me or disagree, do this little science fair project: OBEY ALL TRAFFIC LAWS FOR A WEEK. Watch how, at the posted speed limit, you are passed by nearly every other car on the road. Notice how many people run red lights. I have followed the traffic laws for as long as I have been driving. I know what your results will look like.
Author, chill. You are overreacting for whatever reason(s). Try L.A. instead...then you'll appreciate the civility of LV more.
We do whatever the hell we want in our cars in this city. In NJ, you cant drive 3 miles without encountering a cop. Here, you get more royals than traffic citations. I take my speeding tix to the lawyer and bye bye tix. Heck Yeah! wheelies on the freeway baby! Idiocracy is coming
Interesting article though very polite in addressing the driving issue. Sarcasticly, I enjoy trying to merge into the freeway traffic when the cars are so close together there is no place to merge to. Also, try putting on a turn signal showing a merge and the car in that lane will speed up to prevent anyone from getting in front of them. When people drive 70 mph at a 10-30 foot distance, it is no wonder when there is an accident it seems there is often more than one car involved. Even more strange is when you leave a proper distance and everyone is going the same speed, the person behind often is visibly irritated because (I guess) they think if someone is not tailgating, they are not going fast enough...
I drive at least 30 miles on the freeway every day, and while there are occasional serious speeders, the real menace on the road are the habitually SLOW drivers who insist on taking up the far left lane. It may be a texting teen, a delivery truck, a minivan mom yelling at her kids, a beater car that redlines at 58 mph (invariably with a massive cloud of smoke trailing behind), or an octogenarian mouth breather who can barely see over the dash -- they're the people who are utterly clueless (or indifferent) that they're backing up traffic for miles while they putter along. I see unsafe lane changes, passing on the right, road rage and all sorts of other misbehavior as people fight to get around them.
We need to crack down on people impeding traffic every bit as much as we need to crack down on speeding.
Mr. Voletta,
you article makes a lot of sense, but I don't agree with the idea of making I-15 a TOLL ROAD. In my experience with other States that have built Toll Roads - most predictions of costs savings, or how much could be generated in revenue streams - have been reduced, or evaporated.
Just look at your news story where you say: " The Legislature decided to TAKE ROOM TAX originally designated for the LVCC...." and give it to NDOT. So where does that leave the LVCC?
As long as politicans have :the "license" and opportunity to move, or spend money - they will do so. THAT is their "Raison d'etre" (reason for being).
Now I do think giving the money to NDOT to further deveop I-15 was a Great Idea - due to the exigent need. But I have lived in Las Vegas long enough to remember that Highway PLANNING (for I-15, or 215, or 95, etc.) has not been funded adequately. And at times, incompentancy has been at the root of excessive costs for highway construction and delays.
As you say: "Tourists helped pay for the express lanes" - but they also paid for the I-15 Highway, through state and Federal taxes. And no one - tourists, workers, or people passing throiugh - will want to PAY, or PAY TWICE for using I-15 if it is aToll Road. This Toll Road.idea seems to exist only because Clark County and NDOT do not know how - or have no desire - to manage, plan for, and maintain an adequate highway BUDGET (sound familiar?).
And I-15 Toll Roads will cost everyone in Las Vegas money - every day; in some cases, several times a day. Yes, "CHANGE" occurs, but proper FISCAL MANAGEMENT is required of those responsible. To not do so - without resorting to NEW taxes, Toll Roads, etc. - is non-feasance, and/or mis-feasance on the part of those persons responsible.
I-15 is a Interstate Highway. It was, and is being, funded not only by State/County taxes (funds), but by Federal Taxes too. So I see no need for Toll Roads if funding is set-aside, and properly managed.
But, I do see ADDED CONGESTION, and slowdown of traffic, caused by the Toll Road approach - vs. the current expeditious highway system that I-15 is now.
It seems to me that Clark County, NDOT, and the legislature may see Toll Roads as the next-step to solvency for maintenance of I-15, etc. - - when they SHOULD BE hiring competent managers and executives who will properly PLAN FOR, SET-ASIDE, and MANAGE the monies that will be needed for future care of our highways.
In conclusion, it is my experience that Toll Roads will NOT solve any financial problems that exist relating to Highway construction and maintenance - and would INCREASES COSTS for management, personnel, etc. Thus, the fees collected by a Toll Road would only ADD to the current daily financial burdens of people who must use I-15 - and would also require added revenue for operation of the Toll Road collection points.