The Nevada Department of Transportation is working on $2.4 million in pedestrian and motorist safety upgrades along Charleston Boulevard, from Hillside Place to Burnham Avenue, and between Arden Street and Nellis Boulevard.
The 1-mile-long stretch of improvements call for pedestrian bulb outs and rapid flashing beacons at the intersections of Hillside Place, 17th Street and Burnham Avenue as well as median widening and travel lane restriping from Arden Street to Nellis Boulevard. Other enhancements include constructing handicap ramps and raising worm median islands while extending the eastbound to northbound left turns at Charleston and Nellis boulevards.
"The increase likelihood of crashes grows by 70 percent by jaywalking, just that simple," NDOT spokesman Tony Illia told 13 Action News.
That area was picked because it has seen an increase in population, but another big project is also in the works.
"Boulder Highway is a perfect example, where it was built in 1931. It was the only highway in town. They built it for the construction of the Boulder Dam, later the Hoover Dam, and that was the only way people got around ... but now there's subdivisions, and businesses and schools there," Illia said.
13 Action News has been hearing some people don't love the way it looks, But, when it comes to dangerous intersection, the majority of people we spoke to say something needs to be done.
"Our feeling is, walk another five or ten feet and be safe," Illia said.
