62°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

List ranks road priorities in Pahrump region

Officials plan to start repairs on Homestead Road in Pahrump between Gamebird and Manse Roads shortly, the top priority on the list of planned projects, officials said.

At the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission on Tuesday, officials discussed the Nye County Public Works Evaluation Matrix titled “Project Priority Ranking List.”

Among the top priorities on the list of the roads in need of repairs were Homestead Road, West Charleston Park Avenue and Basin Avenue in Pahrump, West Calvada Boulevard, Blagg Road and Pahrump Valley Boulevard.

“The top section is road projects and the bottom section is intersection improvements. We look at traffic counts and road condition plus other sources of funding as the main criteria for setting priorities,” Nye County Planning Department Director Darrell Lacy said.

Among listed intersections slated for improvement were Blagg Road, Nevada Highway 372 and Pahrump Valley Boulevard, where the construction of a roundabout is currently going on, Barney Street and Bell Vista Road, Honeysuckle Street and Pahrump Valley Boulevard, where officials plan to do superpave.

Additionally, the Nevada Department of Transportation plans on widening at the intersection of Bell Vista Avenue and Highway 160 and Mesquite Avenue and Highway 160.

Typically, when a road is paved the intersections are also paved, Lacy said. The intersection improvements are being made for changes in design such as left-turn lanes, acceleration lanes and recently, roundabouts.

While the roundabouts got to the top of the list based on NDOT safety fund availability, Nye County only paid a portion of the projects.

“We did not have the funding to improve both intersections with stop lights. We contributed $900,000 for two roundabouts – versus over $2 million each for stoplights,” Lacy said.

“I know roundabouts are not popular with some people but it was roundabouts or nothing,” Lacy said. “And NDOT provided many safety studies showing a reduction in fatalities and serious accidents. They should be complete in the next month or so, hopefully, people will learn to use them safely.”

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @dariasokolova77

MOST READ
THE LATEST
US 95 closed at Indian Springs after two semis crash

The Nevada Highway Patrol told the Pahrump Valley Times that two semi-trucks crashed directly head-on. One truck was hauling lithium ion batteries, while the other was carrying lumber, officials said.

After 25 years, an empire of junk in Pahrump is being sold

After 25 years, Smitty, the owner of a local salvage yard, says he’s ready to call it quits. You might know him from his blunt classifieds in the Pahrump Valley Times that advertise the parts, machinery and other fixer-uppers he’s sold over the decades.

GALLERY: Pahrump Valley Rotary remembers 9/11

Braving smoky and gusty conditions on Wednesday morning, dozens of area residents gathered to solemnly commemorate one of the most heart-rending days in the history of the United States, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 2001.

Pahrump fire chief reflects on 9/11 terrorist attacks

Exactly 23 years ago today, Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services Chief and Emergency Services Director Scott Lewis was a first responder with a fire department in New Jersey.