String of Crashes Near Las Vegas School Crosswalk Prompts Safety Concerns

Residents in east Las Vegas are raising urgent concerns about a crosswalk at Eastern Avenue and Isabelle Avenue, near Sunrise Acres Elementary School and Roy Martin Middle School, which they believe poses a danger. Community members refer to that intersection as "scary" and said there have been years of property damage, crashes, and near misses with pedestrians.

Although the crosswalk is designated for children by the schools, many drivers speed and fail to yield, creating a fear for children. Surveillance footage shows cars swerving onto the sidewalks, crashing into walls and trees, and narrowly missing pedestrians in the intersection.

"It's pretty bad every day, you see [cars driving] 60 or 70 miles per hour," local resident Larry Smith said. "It's just crazy. People just think they have somewhere really important to go that's more important than their kid or my nephew."

Residents and local workers report frequent accidents, with some noting more than a dozen crashes in recent years. "It's just an ongoing problem here, and one day someone is going to die," Gomez said. "We shouldn't wait for that to happen for change to happen."

City officials have acknowledged the safety issues. A recent walk audit identified 53 needed safety enhancements, including upgrades at this crosswalk, with plans to add flashing pedestrian-activated signals within five years. Funding for some improvements is already secured through a grant. However, community members remain frustrated at the slow pace of progress, saying current measures, such as crossing guards, are inadequate against inattentive drivers.

"I would like to see some flashers with the push button, with the red lights and not the yellow lights," Gomez replied. "Because if [drivers] don't respect the yellow signs, and there's three of them here, the red [lights] will tell them it's time to stop."

"They're always giving me the 'we're going to do a traffic study, we've got to get traffic out there,' but when? When somebody's blood is across the crosswalk?" Gomez said.

Residents continue to push for faster, stronger safety measures, emphasizing that the dangerous conditions cannot be allowed to persist until tragedy strikes.