Wednesday, May 26, 1999 | 11:37 a.m.
Six new Metro Police officers will beef up the Traffic Bureau beginning June 1, allowing the department to focus more attention on 20 of the most dangerous intersections in Las Vegas.
Metro spokesman Lt. Rick Alba said the six new officers will graduate from the department's motor school Friday and on June 1 will join the bureau's 79 traffic officers, increasing the number to 85.
"This is a very efficient organization and it is working hard to provide services," Alba said, noting that the explosive growth in the Las Vegas Valley has made the job of the Traffic Bureau a major challenge.
In the past five years traffic fatalities in Metro's jurisdiction have increased 63 percent and accidents with injuries have increased 38 percent.
During that same period, Alba said, the number of traffic officers has increased about 38 percent.
In the latest push, teams of eight traffic officers will focus on the 20 intersections three times a week, working from noon to midnight.
Police currently devote one team to the assignment one day a week.
The 20 intersections include:
* Rainbow Boulevard at Lake Mead Boulevard, Sahara Avenue and Spring Mountain Road.
* Decatur Boulevard at Sahara, Spring Mountain and Tropicana Avenue.
* Valley View Boulevard at Sahara.
* Rancho Drive at Sahara.
* Las Vegas Boulevard at Flamingo Road and Sahara.
* Paradise Road at Tropicana.
* Maryland Parkway at Sahara, Desert Inn Road, Flamingo and Tropicana.
* Eastern Avenue at Bonanza Road and Tropicana.
* Pecos Road at Tropicana.
* Charleston Boulevard at Lamb Boulevard and Nellis Boulevard.
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