Crosswalk construction commences Monday

Pahrump residents, visitors and motorists take note: construction on the valley’s newest crosswalk is set to commence on Monday, Oct. 5 and continue throughout the remainder of the year, with the completion date planned for the end of December.

The crosswalk will be installed at Highway 160 and Postal Drive, where it will span the valley’s busiest roadway and provide area pedestrians with a way to get across the street without having to resort to either breaking the law by jaywalking or else trekking an extra mile to utilize the nearest legal crosswalk.

The $246,755 project is under the direction of the Nevada Department of Transportation, which manages and maintains all state highways. Construction will be handled by a contracted company, MC4 Construction, based out of North Las Vegas.

This is a project that has been a long time coming, with Nye County officials pushing for years to have a crosswalk installed to alleviate the danger of pedestrians running across the street and prevent the subsequent accidents that can be caused by the presence of a pedestrian in the roadway. In late 2018, Nye County Commission Chairman John Koenig headed out to the site selected for the new crosswalk to begin the process necessary to nail down one of the most important components of the project, a utility easement that allows Valley Electric Association to provide electricity to the crossing. Now, nearly two years later, NDOT is finally set to see construction begin on this long-awaited project.

The Highway 160 and Postal Drive crosswalk will be much more than just a few lines painted on the ground to indicate where pedestrians are authorized to traverse the four-lane highway. It will be similar to the crosswalk at Highway 160 and Calvada Boulevard, with safety lights that will flash when a pedestrian engages them, helping to notify drivers that they must come to a complete stop and allow the pedestrian to proceed across the roadway.

As detailed by Nevada Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Tony Illia, the new crosswalk will include two new streetlights to illuminate the area at night, crosswalk pavement markings, pedestrian pushbuttons and rapid flashing beacons to alert drivers.

“The project, which will greatly enhance pedestrian safety for the area, is scheduled to finish by December 31,” a news release from NDOT detailed.

Illia explained that there will be points at which Postal Drive will be closed to traffic while trenching occurs and during those times, a detour will be provided. As for the highway itself, he noted that there may be lane closures during the installation of mast arms and signals but the majority of the construction is slated to take place during hours of darkness so as to create as little impact to normal traffic patterns as possible.

“Although motorists may experience intermittent detours on Postal Drive during trenching activities as well as occasional lane restrictions along State Route 160, most of the construction work along State Route 160 will occur at night to minimize traffic impacts,” the news release read. “Motorists should use caution while traveling through the work zone, heed construction signage and take alternate detour routes, if possible.”

The release also noted that NDOT works with Waze to inform the public about planned highway restrictions but, as with anything else in life, unexpected, unscheduled changes or interruptions can occur. For the most up-to-date information on state highway conditions visit www.nvroads.com or call 511 before driving.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com