Technology to help with traffic problems

      County Commissioner Lance Malone unveiled Clark County's plan to help local motorists deal with traffic through the use of high technology, including video cameras at intersections and local traffic monitoring via the Internet.
      The Las Vegas Areas Computerized Traffic System is a $15 million traffic monitoring system which is a joint effort between the city of Las Vegas, Clark County, the city of North Las Vegas, the Clark County Regional Transportation Commission, the Nevada Department of Transportation and the city of Henderson.
      "When I first started looking into growth issues I discovered a very important thing," Malone said. "I found out that people don't necessarily dislike growth but have a problem with the increased amount of traffic brought on by that growth. What we are doing with this new system is making everyone's commute to work or across town a much easier battle."
      The new system includes video cameras at highly congested intersections, which allows a traffic engineer to monitor traffic situations on the city's roadways.
      "We now have the ability to hold a green light longer if traffic is backed up at a monitored intersection," Malone said. "A common complaint I have heard from my constituents has been that when they drive on our streets they just hit red light after red light, increasing the amount of time it takes them to get to their destination.
      "If our traffic engineers see a situation like that they can adjust the timing of the lights accordingly."
      The monitoring station is housed on the second floor of the new Clark County Government Center located near downtown Las Vegas.
      The entire $15 million price tag was paid for by the federal government under the Congestion and Mitigation and Air Quality improvement program.
      "That's another wonderful aspect of this project," Malone said. "It did not cost Clark County one cent."
      The system currently includes eight camera monitors at busy county intersections like Paradise Road and the Desert Inn super arterial. Clark County and the other governmental agencies involved with the project plan to add another 50 cameras within the next year, bringing the number of monitored locations to 58 by the end of 1998.
      Bobby Shelton, Clark County Public Works information coordinator, said the increased coordination of stop lights is crucial to solving the valley's traffic woes.
      "Upgrading the current traffic signal coordination is vital to improving conditions on the roadways," Shelton said. "It's frustrating to the driver when they hit a red light at every intersection and it creates traffic snarls. This new system will allow us to improve that situation."
      Because these heavy traffic areas will be monitored through video cameras, traffic tie-ups and accidents will now also be reported more quickly, allowing motorists to avoid problem areas.
      "Our media in town does an excellent job of telling us about traffic but sometimes they can't be everywhere at once," Malone said. "By the end of the year we will be able to be everywhere at once thanks to these cameras and that will allow the Clark County resident at home to also find out problem areas."
      Clark County is working on a World Wide Web page which will allow locals to view traffic problems with a click of their mouse connected to a home computer.
      "Within the next year or so you will be able to bring up a city map with roads defined by a color-coded dot telling you where traffic is or where our video cameras are monitoring a site," Malone said.