Clark County could soon roll out a new traffic management program aimed at making neighborhood roads safer.
The county council and public works staff discussed what the program provides and how it addresses residents’ concerns during a work session Wednesday.
Ken Leder, director of Clark County Public Works, said the program is a missing element of the county’s transportation services.
“We take many customer service calls related to neighborhood roads, and with your support, we’d like to make our responses more meaningful, with long-lasting solutions that can improve the quality of life for our constituents,” Leder told the council.
The county began looking at a neighborhood traffic program in 2023 in response to frequent calls from residents. In 2024, the county received about 400 calls. Most — 70 to 80 percent — were about speeding. Concerns about pedestrian and bicycle safety and traffic cutting through neighborhoods were also noted.
“The main focus of this program would be for local neighborhood roads that you would find in residential areas,” Harrison Husting, public works’ transportation planner, told the council.
The county’s current traffic engineering team is comprised of two engineers, an engineering technician and a senior engineering technician.
Steve Gallup, transportation division manager, said key responsibilities for the team include receiving and responding to customer service calls, maintaining the road log for state reporting requirements and also crash data, preparing and reviewing traffic control, signing and striping plans, traffic studies where warranted, collecting data, and reviewing developments for code compliance.
“It’s quite a bit of responsibilities and work for four full-time employees,” Gallup told the council.
If the council approves the new program, two full-time employees would be added to manage and respond to complaints and collaborate with neighborhood associations and community groups.
Husting said speeding and traffic safety is a frequently cited concern for neighborhood associations.
“When drivers are faced with congestion on arterials and collectors, they can choose to use neighborhood residential streets to avoid having to sit in traffic. The (neighborhood traffic management program) would provide a framework that outlines the consistent and transparent process for addressing these traffic complaints,” he said.
After a resident or neighborhood association submits a complaint, the team would review it, collect data and determine if it is eligible for the program.
“An initial list would be compiled, and county staff would seek input from a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including the sheriff’s department, fire districts, C-Tran and school districts,” Husting said. “Projects would be scored and ranked using a prioritization methodology. The top-scoring projects would then advance to engagement.”
The traffic management team would work with the residents to develop solutions. Implementation of those solutions would be prioritized based on available funding and feasibility and presented to the county council for approval, he said.
The program will next be presented to the Clark County Planning Commission and Development and Engineering Advisory Board before coming back to the council for a public hearing. A date for the public hearing has not yet been scheduled.
