NLV to put in permanent signal where boy was killed

I Twill take another year before permanent traffic signals start working at a North Las Vegas intersection where a 14-year-old boy was killed and another was seriously injured in a crash last month.

While work appears to be slow, city officials said plans were underway for more than a year before a wrong-way driver struck the teens Jan. 9 on North Fifth Street near East Centennial Parkway.

The Road Warrior’s mailbox has been flooded with questions about plans to increase safety at the intersection, which is currently equipped with a set of temporary signals, along with several concrete and plastic barriers that are supposed to act as a traffic-calming measure.

It was raining on and off throughout the day, but Elijah Coggins and Trevor Dodd opted to walk home from Legacy High School.

The teens were walking along an undeveloped section of North Fifth Street that doesn’t have sidewalks when they were struck by a 21-yearold driver who crossed the center line around 2 p.m., according to North Las Vegas police.

Coggins died at University Medical Center, while Dodd was hospitalized with serious injuries and later released.

The driver, who cooperated with police, was not charged.

It’s unclear whether the rainy weather, the road’s engineering design or other factors contributed to the crash, which remained under investigation as of last week.

Designs are nearly complete for a permanent traffic signal at Fifth and Centennial, with construction expected to start sometime this summer — depending on when the city is able to obtain one last rightof-way clearance, North Las Vegas city spokeswoman Delen Goldberg said.

After that, Goldberg said it should take another eight to 10 months to wrap up work on the signal. Even though drivers don’t like them, the unsightly concrete and plastic barriers will remain until the temporary traffic signal is removed.

The $1.28 million project is funded by the county’s fuel revenue index money, Goldberg said.

Light at end of airport tunnel

Most of us have driven through the tunnel connecting the 215 Beltway to Mccarran International Airport to catch a flight or use as a commuting shortcut.

Dominick from Las Vegas and Harvey from Henderson both said they regularly travel the tunnel and found the lighting to be a little off. “I cannot understand why the

WARRIOR

2017 payroll data provided by Transparentnevada.com.

The unexpected resignations came as the board began its third search for an executive director since April 2016, when John Hill left.

Deputy Executive Director Dwayne Alexander held the reins until February 2017, when Gamazo, former director of modernization and development, began leading the agency.

Gamazo has said she doesn’t want to take the housing authority’s helm permanently. All the same, LaGrande said she’s doing a good job.

“While we’ve had an interim executive director, we’ve continued to meet all our housing authority goals, so we haven’t faltered in any of our compliance areas,” Lagrande said.

Since Hill’s departure, housing authority commissioners have offered his job to two applicants. Neither panned out.

In August 2016 commissioners voted to hire Montgomery Housing Authority executive director Evette

Hester. Hester was offered a starting salary of $175,000, but the deal fell through during further negotiations.

Roy Johnson, executive director of the Vancouver Housing Authority in Washington, signed a contract for the job the next April, but rescinded his acceptance because of a family member’s health.

In May, Lagrande decided to reset the process.

“We wanted to look at a fresh pool of applicants and make sure we selected someone who would be a good fit for the organization,” she said.

Applications are being accepted for the position through March 18. A job posting shows the starting salary could be as large as $179,000 plus benefits that include a $700-permonth car allowance.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.