Boulder Highway gets more chain-link fence in medians to deter jaywalking

More chain-link fence is being added to more than a mile of Boulder Highway as area officials look to further deter jaywalkers from crossing the dangerously busy roadway.

The 6,000-foot project in the median of Boulder Highway between Desert Inn and Flamingo roads follows the initial installation of 1,500 feet of fence in 2024 between Flamingo and Nellis Boulevard. That earlier work saw pedestrian deaths fall from an average of five per year before the fence was erected to zero over the past two years, according to Metropolitan Police Department southeast area command Capt. Jeff Clark.

“This is a part of the valley that gets neglected often when it comes to policing and other things,” Clark said. “That was not acceptable to me to see the death and the destruction that I was having along Boulder Highway. So, this is government in action.”

‘It’s scary’

This year there have been nine crashes involving pedestrians on Boulder Highway, Clark said.

“You drive here at night, and it’s scary,” Clark said. “One of our dispatchers has her own personal dash cam, and you can see that she’s going 45 mph, in the middle lane minding her business and then by the grace of god barely misses someone because they were just walking across the street without a lot of urgency, which is scary.”

The latest round of fence installation will cost the county $504,000. The work includes fence footings, posts, bracing, grounding and permanent signage mounted to the fence noting that pedestrian crossing is prohibited.

The project began in early April and is scheduled for completion in June.

Safety, not beautification is goal

Some of the initial public feedback from the first fences added in 2024 called it an eyesore. Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said he’ll live with that complaint for the increased safety the fences add.

“This is not a beautification (project),” Segerblom said. “If you look at the distance between stop lights, it’s crazy over here, because this road was built a long time ago… In reality, it serves a purpose. People see a bus stop (across the street), and they want to get over there, and we can’t afford to let that happen. The speed is so high, the lighting is low and the history is there, it’s the most dangerous highway in the state.”

After the Desert Inn to Flamingo portion is completed next month, the plan is to add more fencing on Boulder Highway between Desert Inn and Sahara Avenue. That portion will be a tougher task due to landscaping along the majority of that stretch, according to Segerblom.

Historically dangerous

Boulder Highway is one of the most dangerous roadways in Nevada, if not the most dangerous, and efforts to create a safer environment for all road users have been underway for the last several years. Between 2018 and 2019, NDOT added nine crosswalks along various portions of Boulder Highway. The $1.5 million project included overhead flashing beacons, pedestrian warning signs, increased lighting and midblock crosswalks.

Clark would like to see more crosswalks with flashing beacons and brighter LED lighting to break up some of the longer stretches where the fence runs and make the road more visible for all users.

The Flamingo to Nellis portion of fence has been struck by a vehicle twice since it was added two years ago. The first portion of fence added on the latest segment, just south of Desert Inn, has already been struck by a vehicle; it was visibly damaged during the Monday morning news conference about the project.

Clark County Director of Public Works Denis Cederburg said the county factored upkeep costs into the contracts with the companies who are installing the fences.

“We have an annual contract, so we have fence repair under that,” Cederburg said.