Las Vegas Paving crews worked last week on dense grade paving along Moapa Valley Blvd. near Pinwheel Street.

By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

Las Vegas Paving crews working on the valley-wide sewer pipeline project plan to complete dense grade paving of Moapa Valley Boulevard within the next 7-10 days and return traffic to normal travel lanes. At that point the job site is expected to go essentially quiet for about a month to await the higher temperatures needed for final paving, according to Las Vegas Paving project manager Jake Marshall.

“In order to do the final open grade we need temperatures of 70° or more consistently happening from 7:00 a.m. on,” Marshall said. “That usually doesn’t happen here until mid- to late April.”

Crews are currently completing the dense grade paving which forms the foundation of the roadway. The contract required Las Vegas Paving to rebuild with dense grade paving only on portions of roadway affected by the pipeline project, Marshall said. That includes the east/north half and the lateral extensions across the road.

“Actually our original contract bid had us fully rebuilding the asphalt, bottom-up, from shoulder to shoulder; with NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) funding the portion not being affected by the project; so that the whole road would be done all at once,” Marshall said.

But shortly before construction began, NDOT retracted that funding and pulled out of the contract, Marshall said.

“In the long run it probably would have been cheaper, under these circumstances, for NDOT to get the whole road done at once,” Marshall said. “Of course, as the contractor, we would have loved to do the whole thing. But they had their budget considerations the same as everyone does right now and they decided to hold off.”

Once temperatures rise, crews will return to complete the final open grade which will extend over the whole roadway shoulder to shoulder, Marshall said. That is expected to take 1-2 weeks to complete.

“At that point it will look like a brand new road both visually and in rideability,” Marshall said.

The only thing left to decide is what to do with the temporary travel lane which was built on the south/west shoulder of the road to allow for two lanes of traffic to continue during the project. It was hoped by some members of the community that this lane would remain in place after the project was finished to allow for safer pedestrian and bicycle use along the roadway.

Unfortunately, the four inch thick asphalt surface in the temporary lane has deteriorated significantly during the project.

“We had four inches of asphalt right next to irrigated fields and that just didn’t do very well,” Marshall said. “It was a big job to try and maintain that surface during the project to be able to keep people travelling on it.”

“I don’t think any of us really realized the volume of heavy traffic that travels on that road,” Marshall continued. “Trucks from Simplot and the North Shore road project as well as motor homes and other traffic.”

Marshall is concerned that, if left as is, the temporary lane surface would continue to deteriorate and would also become a safety concern. Already some motorists have been observed illegally trying to use the lane as a passing lane, he said.

“Our main concern is safety,” Marshall said. “Frankly I don’t think it is a good idea to leave it there the way it is. It would reflect poorly on Las Vegas Paving and on the Water Reclamation District as well as NDOT.”

Marshall is proposing that the pavement from the temporary lane be pulverized into a small gravel material. Then that material could be packed down and steam-rolled as tightly as possible forming an improved shoulder along the roadway. This would reduce the problem of people trying to use the shoulder as a passing lane, Marshall said.

“The only other option I can see is to remove the material altogether and haul it off,” Marshall said. “And that really wouldn’t benefit anybody.”