Transportation

Vehicle traffic on I-15 at Calif. border sees uptick

Although the total number of visitors to Las Vegas has been on the decline, vehicle traffic on Interstate 15 at the Nevada-California border is up, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Nevada Department of Transportation.

19 August 2009
By Kyle B. Hansen

Las Vegas' guru of alternative fuels

As fleet and transportation services manager for Las Vegas, Dan Hyde has been largely responsible for implementing an alternative fuel policy for the city's fleet of cars, trucks and street sweepers. "The city is the perfect venue for cutting-edge technology like these hybrids," he said, "because we can put the vehicles through a mix of uses."

Dan Hyde’s job title at Las Vegas City Hall is fleet and transportation services manager. But “alternative fuels guru” might be more fitting. Largely through the efforts of Hyde, who’s been in the job since 1993, the city’s fleet of cars, trucks and street sweepers has become the greenest of any municipality in the country.

12 August 2009
By Sam Skolnik

Scheduled blasting prompts I-15 delays near Calif. border

Parts of Interstate 15 will be closed every Tuesday and Thursday for blasting near the California-Nevada state line beginning this week.

10 August 2009
By Kyle B. Hansen

A van to reflect the stages of his life

Paul Tunnecliff of Pahrump sits inside his 1975 Chevrolet van Tuesday, July 28, 2009. He has renovated it several times since he bought it new and is trying to start a van club.

What can you say about a man who works on the same Chevy van for 34 years? Or rather, what can the van say about the man? Because for 34 years, Paul Tunnecliff of Pahrump has been a vanner, converting and reconverting his van ’70s style. Every 10 years or so he has torn his van to pieces, stripping it down to nothing and rebuilding it in his own image.

8 August 2009
By Brendan Buhler

Harmon Avenue at Strip closed to traffic for months

All access to Harmon Avenue at Las Vegas Boulevard will be closed to eastbound and westbound traffic through November, Clark County officials said today.

7 August 2009
By Mary Manning

Council upholds higher speed limit on Seven Hills Drive

The Henderson City Council this week unanimously upheld a citizen advisory committee’s decision to increase the speed limit on a portion of Seven Hills Drive from 25 to 30 mph.

6 August 2009
By Jeremy Twitchell

Berkley: High-speed trains a ticket to more tourism dollars

Rep. Shelley Berkley speaks about transportation issues at a press conference Wednesday as U.S. PIRG Field Organizer Jacob Shirk looks on at the Main Street Station Casino.

Rep. Shelley Berkley came to admire to high-speed trains while in Taiwan with her husband. While there, she was impressed with the speed and efficiency of the system and decided that a similar system was needed at home. “This is fabulous, we need to do this in the United States of America,” she said.

6 August 2009
By Kyle B. Hansen

Judge halts work on 215 Beltway project

Parts of the Las Vegas Beltway fall short of freeway standards. The County Commission voted 5-2 on July 21 to award the upgrade project to Las Vegas Paving, whose bid is $4.6 million more expensive than competitor Fisher Sand and Gravel.

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order today against the county and its contractor for the northern 215 Beltway paving project. U.S. District Judge Robert Jones ordered that no money exchange hands and said no construction can begin for at least two weeks. Jones set an evidentiary hearing for Aug. 24, at which time he could issue an injunction, which would again delay construction of converting the existing roadway into a four-lane highway from Tenaya Way to Decatur Boulevard.

5 August 2009
By Jeff Pope

Pilot’s grounding costing state time, money

A year ago, Jim Richardson was piloting the state plane, ferrying elected officials and senior management between Carson City, Las Vegas and the rural counties in the state’s Cessna Citation. Then he found himself grounded, demoted to a job carrying 120-pound bags of rocks and earning about half of his pilot’s salary.

2 August 2009
By David McGrath Schwartz

Construction to prompt closures on valley roads

The next week could be a hectic one for motorists on Las Vegas Valley freeways as a construction project closes part of Summerlin Parkway and work on the Las Vegas Beltway closes down ramps and restricts lanes.

30 July 2009
By Kyle B. Hansen

NDOT to widen Lake Mead Parkway

The Nevada Department of Transportation plans to widen Lake Mead Parkway in Henderson, seen here where it intersects with Boulder Highway. It will be expanded from Boulder Highway to just before where it intersects with Lake Las Vegas Parkway.

The Nevada Department of Transportation has plans in the works to widen Lake Mead Parkway east of Boulder Highway, thereby improving access to the Lake Las Vegas resort community.

30 July 2009
By Kyle B. Hansen

UNLV’s master of traffic

Pushkin Kachroo, a UNLV professor in electrical and computer engineering, poses at the Regional Transportation Commission's Freeway and Arterial System Transportation (FAST) center. Kachroo and his students is working with colleagues, students and government agencies on ways of tracking traffic electronically and getting information to drivers to help them avoid accidents and other disruptions. He's also drawing top talent in his field to UNLV.

When you notice that car crashes and road construction aren’t tying up Las Vegas Valley traffic for as long as they used to, remember this name: Pushkin Kachroo. The co-director of UNLV’s Transportation Research Center is considered something of a genius by traffic engineers. The university lucked out when it got him. He came to Las Vegas two years ago from Virginia Tech only because his wife landed a job as a marketing professor at UNLV.

26 July 2009
By Stephanie Tavares

Some Henderson residents decry Boulder City Bypass plans

This artist's rendering shows what the redesigned interchange of Boulder City Bypass and U.S. 93 would look like at Railroad Pass. Railroad Pass Casino is at left. If U.S. 93 is designated an interstate between Las Vegas and Phoenix, the bypass route would become part of the interstate, officials say.

Homeowners in Henderson’s southeastern tip are upset about parts of the proposed Boulder City Bypass, but transportation officials say their complaints may be coming too late to make changes in plans first brought to the public in 2002. Residents in the River Mountain Ranch Estates and Old Vegas neighborhoods say the current design of the new freeway will bring unwanted traffic to their streets.

25 July 2009
By Kyle B. Hansen

Centennial Hills transit center construction closes road

Construction in the new Centennial Hills transit center and Park and Ride facility is causing road closures and lane restrictions near Durango Road and U.S. 95 in northwest Las Vegas.

25 July 2009
By Kyle B. Hansen

County reaffirms vote, rejects lowest bid for road project

Parts of the Las Vegas Beltway fall short of freeway standards. The County Commission voted 5-2 on July 21 to award the upgrade project to Las Vegas Paving, whose bid is $4.6 million more expensive than competitor Fisher Sand and Gravel. Fisher plans to seek legal action against the county for its decision to go with the higher bid.

Construction on widening 2 1/2 miles of the 215 Beltway was supposed to have started last month. Instead, the project is going to court. Commissioners voted 5-2 Tuesday to award the project to Las Vegas Paving -- the second-lowest bidder.

21 July 2009
By Jeff Pope
« Older Newer »