Las Vegas City Council to consider speed cushions near schools

Speed cushions may be coming to roads near 16 Las Vegas school campuses this summer.

The city’s Traffic and Parking Commission on Thursday approved proposals to install the vehicle-slowing infrastructure on streets adjacent to several elementary and middle schools in city limits. The proposals must be approved by the Las Vegas City Council before they are implemented.

Schools that could see speed cushions near them include Becker, Bell, Richard Bryan, Christensen, Edwards, Escobedo, Fong, Garehime, Hancock, Jacobson, Lummis, Martin, Neal, Sunrise Acres, Vassiliadis and Variety School.

A similar proposal for streets near The Adelson School, a private pre-K-12 school near Lake Mead Boulevard and Hills Center Drive, was tabled for reconsideration after commission members heard objections to the proposal from neighboring residents.

Speed cushions, which are longer than speed bumps, are often used on busier roadways to slow traffic, according to Ravi Seera, the city’s traffic engineer and deputy director of public works. He said speed cushions are currently uncommon around Las Vegas’ schools, but can reduce speeding between 20 and 25 percent, a difference that could save a life.

“Our focus currently is in school zones, where we are seeing a higher amount of students either getting hit or injured just out of school,” Seera said.

Vehicles have struck 170 kids in Clark County, including 56 children in Las Vegas, since the school year began on Aug. 10, according to data compiled by the Clark County School District Police Department.

Seera said Thursday’s proposals were the “first batch” of traffic safety improvements around Las Vegas’ school campuses. The city is also looking at installing more pedestrian crossing flasher beacons, curb extensions to reduce road width and signs that display a driver’s speed near schools, he said.

Seera said the speed cushions are part of the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to reduce roadway fatalities and high-injury vehicle collisions to zero by 2050. The speed cushions are part of a $900,000 project to improve road safety. The city will spend $45,000 on the project, while a federal grant pays the rest, Seera said.

“These are proven countermeasures,” Seera said. “Any collision that we can prevent is working towards the goal of having no collisions or fatalities on our roadways.”

Contact Spencer Levering at [email protected] or 702-383-0253. The Review-Journal is owned by the Adelson family, founders of the Adelson Educational Campus.