Since the pandemic began, you’ve likely noticed fewer vehicles on the road when venturing out of your home to pick up essential items. Since the governor’s stay-at-home order went into effect mid-March, the RTC’s traffic management team has monitored these changes in traffic patterns on our freeways and roadways and adjusted operations accordingly.
They identified signal timing and school timing plans that could be adjusted based on reduced traffic volumes and school closures, while school flashers remained on for food distribution to students. On wide roads with historically heavy traffic volumes, the traffic management team reduced the cycle lengths and adjusted plans to account for the lack of rush hours. Of the 1,500 traffic signals within the network, 250 have been adjusted in response to traffic flows and demand.
With Phase 1 of Nevada’s Roadmap to Recovery beginning Saturday, May 9, traffic has increased by approximately 9 percent on Clark County freeways during the third week of May since April. Phase 2 is set to begin Friday, June 4. As businesses begin to reopen and more and more people venture out, the RTC’s traffic management team will continue to monitor the network and adjust operations as necessary to ensure the continued safe flow of traffic.