It'll be a Pleasant Valley again someday

Congratulations to Pleasant Valley residents for getting the attention of state transportation officials - and motorists - in their attempts to make Highway 395 a bit safer.

Residents along the stretch of highway between Washoe City and Reno have taken it upon themselves to address the hazards - though we should all be thankful, because thousands commute every day to and from Carson City and almost everybody has to travel that route sooner or later.

The shame of it, we suppose, is that the Nevada Department of Transportation wasn't more proactive. Why does it take repeated protests from stubborn residents to get some action out of a bureaucracy?

The reality, however, is that the grassroots efforts by Pleasant Valley residents have attracted wide attention and may well be as effective as anything NDOT can do in the short term.

Who can miss the hand-painted signs dotting the roadsides pleading with motorists to slow down for the sake of the neighborhood's children? Or, for that matter, the more dire signs listing the number of fatalities and the threat of tickets from the Nevada Highway Patrol?

All the pleading in the world won't work if it's not followed up by consistent enforcement. Many people will get the message. The worst offenders, though, need to be reminded in the pocketbook.

Stepped-up patrols and more prominent speed-limit signs will help. We agree with NDOT that barriers may not be the best solution, especially since Interstate 580 is being constructed along the same stretch.

That's where NDOT had the foresight, years ago, to realize traffic counts would be more than the road could handle and began planning for a major highway. We hope Pleasant Valley will become, sometime in 2008, a leisurely drive more befitting its name.

Until then, slow down and be careful. It's good advice in Pleasant Valley and everywhere.