MINUTES OF THE

      SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

 

      Sixty-seventh Session

      March 4, 1993

 

 

 

The Senate Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman William R. O'Donnell, at 1:30 p.m., on Tuesday, March 4, 1993, in Room 226 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada.  Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda.  Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.

 

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman

Senator Lawrence E. Jacobsen, Vice Chairman

Senator Mark A. James

Senator Leonard V. Nevin

Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr.

Senator Thomas J. Hickey

Senator Lori L. Brown

 

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Paul Mouritsen, Research Analyst

Terri Jo Wittenberg, Committee Secretary

 

OTHERS PRESENT:

 

Mrs. Andrea Lewis, Mother of Matthew Scott Lewis (who was killed   on 10/05/92)

Mr. Dan Hohbach, Save Our Kids (SOK)

Mr. P.D. Kiser, Professional Engineer (P.E.), Chief Traffic   Engineer, Nevada Department of Transportation

Mrs. Johnnie Breen, Manager, Crosswinds Apartments

Ms. Teigan Breen, (12 year old witness to Matthew Scott Lewis'       death)

 

Chairman O'Donnell opened the hearing on Senate Concurrent Resolution (S.C.R.) 6.

 

S.C.R. 6:   Directs Department of Transportation to conduct study of certain methods of making area surrounding public  libraries safer for pedestrians.

 

 

Mrs. Andrea Lewis, Mother of Matthew Scott Lewis (who was killed on 10/05/92) explained the events of the day her son was killed.  Mrs. Lewis said it was about 4:00 in the afternoon and her and her son were leaving the library and as she stood at the cross walk, she looked very carefully for cars.  She added, Matthew asked if she had looked for cars and she told him yes and that it was now his turn to look for cars.  She said he then walked slightly in front of her (about 3 inches) and then a car out of nowhere hit Matthew's head and dragged him 110 feet.  She said Matthew was between the wheel and the fender the entire time.  Mrs. Lewis said she kept waiting to see brake lights and never did.  Mrs. Lewis added, "Matthew then fell off the car and the guy never stopped.  He just kept going."  She said, "From then on, it was all down hill; there was no way he could have made it.  He was hit at 65 miles an hour, 110 feet.  There was just no way."

 

Mrs. Lewis explained the reason she was involved in S.C.R. 6 was because the street where the accident occurred was a very wide street and the only access to the library is in the front.  She added the library is a very small, family-type library.  She added that it was fun to go to the library and she and Matthew spent time looking at books, looking at the fish tank and many other things.

 

Mrs. Lewis said this particular library was near two schools and in the middle of a residential area.  Mrs. Lewis said she felt the area needed a traffic signal of some sort to make the area safer for those pedestrians who use the library.

 

Chairman O'Donnell thanked Mrs. Lewis and told her he understood how hard it must be to recount her story and that it showed a lot of courage and it showed how dedicated she was to this cause.

 

Mrs. Lewis said she felt like Matthew was in the room with her and he would want her to get the message across to protect other little kids.

 

Mr. Dan Hohbach, Save Our Kids (SOK), spoke on behalf of

S.C.R. 6.  Mr. Hohbach said he was not married and did not have any children, but while driving around Las Vegas and other communities he sees the problem every day.  Mr. Hohbach said people are just not aware of what is going on around them and they need to be more aware, especially in school zones and around libraries.  Mr. Hohbach brought a video (Exhibit C.  The original is on file in the Research Library) for the committee to see.

 

Mr. Hohbach played the video for the committee.

 

Mr. P.D. Kiser, Professional Engineer (P.E.), Chief Traffic Engineer, Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), spoke with regard to the position of the NDOT on S.C.R. 6.  Mr. Kiser said they study an area to decide whether it meets the minimum warrants in order to place a traffic control device there.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked Mr. Kiser if there were a minimum number of traffic accidents allowed before a traffic signal is installed.

 

Mr. Kiser said there were 11 warrants in the manual and that meeting any one of those warrants could justify the installation of a traffic signal.  He added, one of those warrants is an accident warrant and if there are five or more accidents within a 12 month period that could be corrected with a signal.  He state this particular accident would meet one of those warrants.  He added, there would also have to be a certain level of traffic volume at the site in order to meet the warrant. 

 

Mr. Hohbach explained a chart which showed the accident area and what transpired that day.

 

Senator Hickey asked if overpasses or underground pedestrian walkways were practical and feasible.

 

Mr. Kiser said those types of facilities would cost a lot more money to build than traffic signals and the cost was probably the biggest deterrent to building overpasses and underground walkways.  Mr. Kiser also said another problem associated with those facilities is the problem of keeping people off the streets and forcing them to use those facilities.  Mr. Kiser concluded with saying that it was very hard to justify the cost of such facilities because these cost millions of dollars rather than, maybe, $100,000.

 

Senator Brown asked if the warrants needed to be met were minimum standards or if these warrants limited how far the NDOT could go.

 

Mr. Kiser said the warrants do represent some minimum things that must be done.  He added, traffic signals require some very specific warrants that have to be met.

 

Senator Brown asked if a traffic signal could be installed which would only be triggered if traffic was at the light or if a pedestrian pushed the button.  Senator Brown said this type of traffic signal would not impede normal traffic on Jones.

 

 

Mr. Kiser said traffic volumes were the basic foundation of the 11 traffic warrants and there had to be a certain amount of traffic in order to meet the volume aspect to even start considering a traffic signal for an intersection.  Mr. Kiser said that at the intersection in this particular case, there just was not enough traffic to meet the basic warrant to start looking at placing a traffic signal in the area of the library.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked how pedestrian traffic was counted and if the NDOT had counted the pedestrians on Jones.

 

Mr. Kiser said he did not know if the pedestrians had been counted in the area of the library and that generally, if they ask for a traffic signal warrant study, pedestrians are usually counted and he would assume that this had been done while traffic was being counted.

 

Senator Neal asked why the Palace Station was able to get a traffic signal in front of their business.

 

Mr. Kiser said that intersection at that location did meet the warrant and for a while, was the highest accident location in Las Vegas. 

 

Senator Neal said that a child had died at the intersection by the library and asked if the death of that child was enough to warrant a traffic signal.

 

Mr. Kiser said that he was not insensitive to this issue, and while it was a very tragic incident, a fatality at a location is counted like any other accident when they are looking at the traffic signal warrants.  Mr. Kiser added, he did not write the warrants, and he has to follow them because that is what the law says.

 

Mr. Kiser added, that the Palace Station paid for the installation of that traffic signal, but they had to meet those warrants and they tried for 4 years before the warrants were met.

 

Senator Neal asked if the library areas could be treated like school zones.  Senator Neal added, the foundation of the warrants should be the safety of the public.

 

Mr. Kiser said libraries are not treated as school zones because they are not the same as school zones.  He said there was not the same concentration of children at these locations as there are at schools.  He added, there are convenience stores that have a greater concentration of children than library areas. 

 

Senator Mark A. James, Clark County, District 8, said this area was right in the middle of his district.  He said long before he ever decided to run for office, he and his family were using this library.  Senator James said he had a 3 year old boy and he takes him to this library every Saturday morning and that he has a 5 year old daughter who has also been going to the library since she was about 2 or 3 years old. 

 

Senator James said this could just as well have been one of his children.  He said that since he lives a ways from the library, he drives and it is very hard to make a left-hand turn to get on Rochelle to go around to the back of the library or to turn into the library at the front entrance.  Senator James said he appreciates what had been said, but felt the issue had not been addressed strongly enough.  He said, "You have to run for your life!"  He said before this happened and brought attention to this area, people had to run for their lives to get across the street.  He said cars take off from Flamingo and that there was not a single traffic control device until you get to Tropicana and by the time those cars get to the Spring Valley Library, which is about 2 miles, people are in high gear and are usually going faster than the speed limit allows.

 

Senator James said the library had been built on a main thoroughfare, but right in the middle of a heavily populated residential area and most of the housing developments in the area are located across the street from the library.

 

Senator James said that usually we are forced to react to things after they happen and that is what the traffic control device laws do.  He said, "They look for warrants and warrants are if somebody has gotten killed.  Well that's a pretty dandy warrant."  He said that we need to be more anticipatory in the law and look for situations before they arise.

 

Senator James said people wrote to him to see if anything could be done.  He said fortunately, Senator O'Donnell had the leadership and caring to get out and push this issue.  Senator James also said he hoped this would go way beyond the Spring Valley Library.  Senator James said he wholeheartedly supported S.C.R. 6 and supported Chairman O'Donnell and his efforts to get this through the committee.

 

Senator James also said the courage it took for Mrs. Lewis to come before the committee was "more than commendable" and "almost superhuman."  Senator James said he hoped this would only be the first step so that these kinds of tragedies can be prevented before they happen.

 

 

Senator James read a letter (Exhibit D) which he wrote shortly after Matthew was killed. 

 

Senator James concluded by saying that "it only takes one car, going 50 miles an hour, at an unprotected intersection, and one child to have a situation like this."

 

Chairman O'Donnell stated on the day he met Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, he and his wife pulled out on Gunderson and went north on Jones and that he saw a woman and her two small children walking down the median on Jones and they were trying to get to the library.  Chairman O'Donnell said there is no safe way to get across the street there at the present time.

 

Mr. Hohbach said he had a copy of the traffic study done by NDOT in that area.  He said the traffic study was done on Friday, October 16 and there were 26,000 cars on Jones that day. 

Mr. Hohbach also added, the speed limit on Jones is 45 miles per hour; not 35 miles per hour, as the video tape had reported.

 

Mr. Hohbach also said, according to the traffic report, there was no pedestrian count taken that day at the intersection being studied.

 

Senator Neal asked how many signatures were on the petition.

 

Mrs. Johnnie Breen, Manager, Crosswinds Apartments, said there were about 11,000 signatures on the petition which asks to have a traffic signal installed at the Spring Mountain Library intersection. 

 

Mrs. Breen explained she was the manager of an apartment complex and that Matthew Lewis had been killed in front of the apartment complex.  Mrs. Breen said there were 93 children residing at her apartment complex and her complex was the closest to the library.  Mrs. Breen said the children are the future and libraries are necessary for these children.

 

Mr. Hohbach said there are two schools in the immediate area and the actual school crossing was down by Flamingo and Jones.  He added, the apartments where most of the children live are directly across from those schools and most children are not going to go way down the street and cross and then come clear back in order to get to school.  He said the children need to be able to cross at Rochelle which is where the library is.

 

 

Ms. Teigan Breen, (12 year old witness to Matthew Scott Lewis's death), told the committee about what she saw the day Matthew Lewis was killed.  Ms. Breen said she was very scared by what she saw that day and she said she hoped no one else ever has to see what she saw that day. (Ms. Breen was crying and unable to continue.)

 

Chairman O'Donnell excused Ms. Breen and thanked her for her testimony.

 

Senator Neal said, in addition to the 26,000 autos which use Jones every day, there were 11,000 signatures on a petition and the people have a right to petition their government and this petition should exceed any warrant to which the NDOT has to abide.  He said, "This is our warrant.  The 26,000 cars only add to that."

 

Senator Hickey asked if they were allowed to expand on the definitions and criteria of the warrants.

 

Mr. Kiser said he did not think the NDOT could unless they adopted their own manual.

 

Senator Hickey asked for a legal opinion from NDOT's legal staff.

 

Mr. Kiser said he would get it for the committee (Exhibit E).

 

Senator Brown said that counting accidents was too late.  She added she did not think we would lose federal highway funds if we had stricter standards than the federal minimums.

 

Mr. Kiser said the accident warrant was just one of 11 warrants that could be used.

 

Chairman O'Donnell asked for a copy of the 11 warrants

(Exhibit F).

 

Chairman O'Donnell said today's libraries have taken on a whole new concept and society is moving toward taking libraries more seriously and making them very child oriented. 

 

Senator Nevin asked if the area in front of library could be made into a 15 mile per hour school zone area.

 

Mr. Kiser said that decision was not up to him.  Mr. Kiser added, there was probably not the same concentration of children around the library as there was near a school.

 

 

Senator Nevin said he thought there was the same concentration of children around the library due to the two schools in the area and the many apartment complexes in that area.  Senator Nevin added, he would find out who had the authority, and he would call them to get this done.

 

Mr. Kiser said he was not aware there were school children crossing there.

 

Senator Nevin suggested NDOT go out on a Monday morning and do a pedestrian count while those children are trying to get across Jones to go to school.

 

Mr. Kiser said this could be done.

 

Senator James said there were traffic lights on Decatur every 400 feet past Oakey as a person gets to the freeway and there were not many pedestrians in the area.  He suggested that if the current law allows that to take place, then there is a serious problem with those warrants.  He said the committee needs to look at that and asked if the committee might pursue that issue after the passage of S.C.R. 6.

 

Mr. Kiser said he had called the state librarian and found out there are currently 72 public libraries around the state and S.C.R. 6 says the NDOT would be required to study all the areas around those libraries.  He added, due to the size, he did not think NDOT could handle such a study in-house with their current staff and said they would probably have to hire a consultant to do so at a cost of $50,000 to $75,000.

 

Mr. Kiser also said some of those libraries are not adjacent to a state highway and he does not know if NDOT should be doing a study of libraries on someone else's roadways.

 

Mr. Kiser asked the committee to keep in mind that traffic signals are not a cure-all and that sometimes a traffic signal causes more accidents.  Mr. Kiser said the driver who killed Matthew Lewis had run the red light up at Flamingo and that there was no guarantee with a traffic signal.  He said people have to recognize a device is there and they have to obey it and use it properly.

 

Chairman O'Donnell said the local jurisdictions would have to handle their own study.  He said the problem has come to the attention of the committee because the county people could not do anything about it.

 

 

Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on S.C.R. 6.

 

      SENATOR JAMES MOVED TO AMEND AND DO ADOPT S.C.R. 6.

 

      SENATOR NEVIN SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

      THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

      * * * * *

 

There being no further business, Chairman O'Donnell adjourned the meeting at 2:35 p.m.

 

                                       RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

                                                            

            Terri Jo Wittenberg,

            Committee Secretary

 

 

 

APPROVED BY:

 

 

 

 

                                     

Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman

 

 

DATE:                                

 

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Senate Committee on Transportation

March 4, 1993

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