Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Drawing a circle around neighborhood speeders

At rush hour, Rancho Drive backs up between Sahara Avenue and Charleston Boulevard. To avoid the snarl, drivers cut through the McNeil Estates neighborhood at speeds above 45 miles per hour, according to the city of Las Vegas. Residents considered additional stop signs and speed bumps to fix the problem until McNeil’s Jeff Rogan — an attorney by day and a self-described urban design “nerd” in his spare hours — suggested a traffic circle, a small island in the middle of an intersection.

The city set up a test island in the neighborhood using traffic cones. It worked: Cars drove slowly and smoothly around it, even larger vehicles such as fire engines. Now the city is considering a permanent traffic circle at Mason Avenue and Strong Drive. The only remaining hurdles: funding, logistics and aesthetics.

“Obviously, we want something that looks nice, and won’t just be an asphalt impediment in the roadway,” Rogan says.

Either way, drivers will slow down to look at it, which is the point.

This story originally appeared in the Las Vegas Weekly.