Las Vegas, Nevada

Feasibility Study and Traffic Signal Impact Fee Study
   

For the City of Las Vegas, Duncan Associates first prepared an impact fee feasibility study for roads, police, fire, parks and drainage facilities and then focused on traffic signal impact fee system. Traffic signals in Las Vegas had historically been funded by Clark County or by developers as a condition of development approval. The exaction process required developers to prepare a traffic impact study, and to pay fees to mitigate their impact on the need for signals. The new fee system will be more equitable than exactions, since all developers will participate, regardless of the size or location

of their development. It will also be easier to administer. Since traffic signals are almost exclusively installed on arterial streets, the service area for traffic signal impact fees was designated as the entire incorporated City. The service area will grow over time as the City annexes land from adjacent unincorporated areas and takes in surrounded islands. The cost of new traffic signals can vary significantly from one project to the next. Recent signals built in Las Vegas using these various approaches have averaged $205,000 per signal. Before deciding to proceed only with traffic signals, the feasibility study examined a number of facilities, including roads, storm drainage, parks and fire protection.