LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5)—After years of planning, the Reimagine Boulder Hwy project is coming to fruition.
The project kicked off this week between Gibson Road and Lake Mead Parkway. People in the area will notice significant upgrades planned for pedestrians and cyclists. A planned road diet will also result in fewer traffic lanes for drivers.
“It’s a heavy commercial area, and reducing the traffic from three lanes on each side to two, it’s a huge concern because it’s gonna cause major congestion for commuters and commercial traffic as well,” said Boulder Highway resident, Paul Ranstrom.
The Fox5 cone zone team was curious if reducing traffic lanes would be an issue, so they drove down Boulder Hwy during the morning commute to get a first look at what a road diet would look like as traffic lanes went from 3 to 2. They immediately discovered that losing one traffic lane resulted in major traffic jams along Boulder Hwy between Gibson Road and Sunset.
“Since Covid, we’ve had a huge influx of people coming to live in Las Vegas. Traffic is exponentially increased in the last couple of years,” Ranstrom explained.
The growing Las Vegas population has created traffic jam concerns. With the massive Cadence Development continuing to develop through 2031, Henderson commuters fear removing traffic lanes along Boulder Highway will likely increase their traffic issues.
However, the city and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada believe that removing those traffic lanes will make the road much safer for pedestrians.
“The delay that is going to occur, you might have to wait at a light a little longer than you currently do, but the value of it is the safety,” said the City of Henderson’s former Traffic Engineer, Scott Jarvis.
“There’s so many people that jaywalk on Boulder Highway.” expressed Ranstorm. “It’s like great concept of protecting them, but if they’re going to jaywalk, they’re going to jaywalk and it’s like they kind of lost view of the true meaning of what the roads are built for,”
The bottom line is that big changes are coming to Boulder Highway, many of them positive, including new sidewalks, brighter lighting, buffered bike lanes, major flood control improvements, and updated landscaping.
Similar to the Maryland Parkway project, once Boulder Highway is “reimagined” by the fall of 2027, drivers will see fewer traffic lanes, a lower speed limit, and more congestion.
, once Boulder Highway is “reimagined” by the fall of 2027, drivers will see fewer traffic lanes, a lower speed limit, and more congestion
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