Improved intersection will ease traffic flow

     By Judy DeLoretta
     View staff writer
      Southwest-area citizens, dignitaries and commuters alike celebrated the opening of a new intersection at Buffalo Drive and Desert Inn Road on May 12.
      A ribbon-cutting ceremony highlighted the completion of the area's latest construction project, enhancing the traffic capacity on Desert Inn Road, between Jones Boulevard and Durango Drive.
      "This is the single biggest road project next to the Beltway," Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny said. "It will tremendously ease traffic throughout the surrounding neighborhoods and move people right along on Desert Inn."
      About 60,000 cars are expected to travel through the intersection daily.
      "That's a lot of traffic being diverted from the smaller streets and neighborhoods. It will make those areas a lot safer and keep traffic flowing west on Desert Inn," said Kenny.
      The $4.6 million project was funded by the Regional Transportation Commission and by abutting property owners through a Special Improvement District. The project included the efforts of Clark County Department of Public Works, G.C. Wallace Engineering and Wells Cargo Construction Co.
      The construction project is just one of several plans within the Clark County Master Transportation Plan, according to Clark County Public Works.
      With the completion of the project, valley commuters now have additional street surface continuing from the Desert Inn Arterial.
      "We see the opening of Desert Inn and Buffalo as very big," Kenny said.
      During the latest project, Desert Inn was widened and constructed to include four travel lanes -- two westbound and two eastbound -- with a continuous left turn lane. New curbs, gutters, sidewalks, street lights, storm drains and traffic control equipment were also installed.
      New traffic signals also were added at Desert Inn's intersections with Torrey Pines Drive and Buffalo Drive.
      "I'm just ecstatic," said Wells Cargo Inc. superintendant Dennis Ross. "It took seven months from ground-breaking, but this new roadway will help out everyone in the area."