County flips switch on stoplight at dangerous intersection

By Kyle B. Hansen

Monday, April 27, 2009 | 3:32 p.m.

Many who live between Interstate 15 and Las Vegas Boulevard have viewed the stretch of pavement that leads to the tourist mecca on the Strip as a potentially deadly trap that separates them from jobs, shopping centers and schools.

Some relief for those residents came today, as the county turned on a newly installed traffic signal at the boulevard's intersection with Wigwam Avenue. The stoplight should provide residents with a safer place to cross the busy thoroughfare.

The area in question is along Las Vegas Boulevard, south of its intersection with Blue Diamond Road and north of Silverado Ranch Boulevard, and has been viewed as a danger to pedestrians by those who live and work nearby.

Sarah Harlow lives west of Las Vegas Boulevard. She uses the intersection to get to work and to the store, sometimes crossing eight or more times a day, she said.

"It's like running for your life," she said. "It's hard to cross the street here. I'm really glad the light is going in finally."

The new stoplight comes after residents took their complaints to the county following the death of 19-year-old Verlaine May Powless last July.

A vehicle struck Powless while she was crossing Las Vegas Boulevard on her way home from her job at Cash Plus.

Her mother, Peggy Tejido, helped County Commissioner Steve Sisolak flip the switch to turn on the stoplight Monday afternoon.

"I'm very, very happy," Tejido said. "This is a victory to all of us that live around here."

Sisolak credited Tejido's work with neighbors to get the county to install the signal.

"The residents here have been absolutely incredible in fighting for this," Sisolak said. "They've been diligent, they had an online petition, they've been lobbying, they've been advocating, they've been calling, and as a result of that, it happened."

Prior to Monday, the intersection had a crosswalk with flashing amber lights to warn motorists of crossing pedestrians. But many residents still felt the intersection was an unsafe place to cross as cars whizzed by at speeds up to -- and above -- 50 mph.

Brett Raftery, the owner of Cash Plus, was Powless' boss. He said he was not impressed with the new signal.

"I hope it makes Verlaine's mom feel better, but to me, something should have been done immediately (after the accident)," he said. "They could have dropped in two stop signs, changed those yellow lights to red and it would have been finished until this light came in."

Raftery said the intersection was a problem before Powless' death and that the residents had been complaining for a long time.

About a month after the accident, Raftery helped to organize a protest, which drew about 50 people to the intersection. The group disrupted traffic while repeatedly crossing the street in the intersection as cars backed up for a mile in each direction.

Sisolak said that a stop sign was not a viable option at the intersection.

"Traffic was just way too fast to put a stop sign up here," he said. "I don't know if that would have created more problems than it solved."

The county and contractor did everything they could to get the signal installed as quickly as possible, he said.

After the accident, the county said the speed limit could be lowered to 45 mph, but Sisolak said Monday that any additional changes would depend on future development in the area.