Speed limits are being reduced on two Las Vegas roads and speed cushions are being installed near a high school in the north valley, according to the city.
Proposals approved by the City Council on Wednesday will see speed reductions on Centennial Parkway in the northwest valley and Commerce Street near the Arts District. Seven speed cushions will be raised near Shadow Ridge High School.
The changes, part of an effort to increase traffic safety, will cost $52,000.
Complaints from concerned residents led to two of the speed-reduction efforts.
Centennial Parkway decreases
“I just wanted to give a shout-out to the residents in the area,” said Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske at the council meeting about changes to Centennial Parkway. “When you speak out, the city does take action and the outcomes are positive.”
That road will see decreases between 5 mph and 10 mph, according to the city. The limit is changing from 45 mph to 35 mph between Shaumber Road and Hualapai Way, and then from 45 mph to 40 mph through Durango Drive, the city said.
From there, it will change from 40 mph to 35 mph until motorists reach Grand Montecito Parkway.
Resident complaints and an upcoming capital improvement project led to a speed study that determined the change was appropriate for the area between Shaumber and Hualapai, said Lia Grimaldi, the city’s senior engineering associate.
Currently, motorists driving by Centennial High School — which is on West Centennial Parkway just west of North Hualapai — have to decelerate from 45 mph to 15 mph when classes are in session, she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s a huge differential in speeds, and we don’t like to see that.”
The neighborhood to the immediate east of that area is undeveloped, Grimaldi noted. It only saw a 5 mph reduction because the city didn’t think motorists would adapt.
Uniform speed limit in the Arts District
Analysts with the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan compile data. The initiative seeks to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the city by 2050 — “if not sooner,” Grimaldi added.
Speed reductions are considered for areas with increased instances of serious crashes, Grimaldi said.
The speed limit on Commerce Street, between Charleston and Oakey boulevards in the Arts District, is dropping to 25 mph, matching the limit in the rest of the Arts District, Grimaldi said.
A study and field observations of the roads near Shadow Ridge High School determined that they were being used as a cut through for campus traffic, and that the design encouraged excessive speeds, she said.
To curb the behavior, the city is installing speed cushions on Fireside Ranch, Iron Crossing and Welch Valley avenues, and Dodds Canyon Street and Palomino Ranch streets, Grimaldi said.
Las Vegas encourages residents to report other areas with possible inappropriate speed limits it might have missed. They can report their concerns with the SeeClickFix app, the city said.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
