North Las Vegas Plans School Flashing Beacons Near Richard Priest Elementary, and Las Vegas Adds Eight Free Outdoor Gyms

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

On September 22, 2026, KTNV 13 reporter Jhovani Carrillo spoke with parents at Richard Priest Elementary School in North Las Vegas about traffic around the campus. Parents said school staff do a good job getting kids safely through drop-off and pickup. Some still asked for more traffic safety improvements around the school.

The city of North Las Vegas told the station it already has plans in place. Crews will install school flashing beacons along Simmons Street and Alexander Road. Those two roads carry traffic for both Priest Elementary and Cheyenne High School, so one set of improvements helps an elementary school and a high school at the same time. Fuselier Drive, which runs along the school frontage, is scheduled for updated signs and new pavement striping. The report did not give an installation date for the Priest Elementary work.

Jasmine Williams has four children at Priest Elementary. She told KTNV that teachers and staff make sure kids get across the street safely every day. She also said traffic gets hectic near the school, especially on San Miguel Avenue, where lots of parents stop and cars are turning at the same time. That is a familiar picture for anyone who has done an elementary school pickup in the valley.

The Priest story grew out of earlier coverage. KTNV began looking at Priest after it reported on traffic safety changes at Ollie Detwiler Elementary School, also in North Las Vegas. A parent named Ryan Pletcher then contacted the station and asked about flashing beacons near Priest. That is a good reminder that one parent asking a simple question can move a neighborhood issue forward.

Priest is not the only campus on the list. Back in August, KTNV learned that three other North Las Vegas schools had been picked for similar traffic safety improvements. The city expects those three projects to be finished by the end of the year. The city also said it keeps looking for ways to improve safety in and around school zones, and that more improvements could come as funding becomes available and in coordination with community stakeholders.

Now for the parks news. On September 17, 2026, News 3 Las Vegas reported that the Las Vegas City Council approved a contract to install eight new National Fitness Campaign fitness spaces. They are planned for Centennial Hills Park, Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs, Lorenzi Park, Patriot Park, Justice Myron E. Leavitt and Jaycee Community Park, Stewart Place Park, Hualapai Canyon Trailhead, and Bob Baskin Park. The spaces will be free to use. City leaders said the goal is to give residents more ways to stay active outdoors and make exercise part of their daily routine. The report did not include a total cost or an opening date for the new spaces.

School speed limit sign mounted with traffic lights, similar to the flashing beacons planned for Simmons Street and Alexander Road in North Las Vegas

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

Start with what a flashing beacon actually does. In Nevada, the school zone speed limit is only in effect during set hours. The flashing yellow lights are how drivers know the lower limit is live right now. Without a beacon, drivers have to read a sign, remember the posted hours, and check the clock while also watching for kids. With a beacon, the message is simple: the lights are flashing, so slow down. On a wide road like Simmons Street or Alexander Road, that clear signal matters a lot.

It also matters because the stakes went up this year. As we covered in our story on Nevada's new school zone fines, a state law that took effect July 1, 2026 doubled penalties for traffic violations in school zones. FOX5 Vegas reported that a first offense now runs $250 to $1,000, and a second offense runs $1,000 to $1,500. The same law lets local governments extend how long flashing school zone signals run. Before the change, state law only allowed flashers to run 30 minutes before and after school. So the beacons on Simmons and Alexander are not just a safety feature. They also tell you exactly when a very expensive ticket is possible.

For parents, the benefit is obvious. Kids walking to Priest Elementary, and teens heading to Cheyenne High, cross roads that see a lot of through traffic. Better signals and fresh striping help drivers see the zone and see the kids. Clear lines on Fuselier Drive also help parents in the pickup line know where to stop, where to wait, and where not to turn around.

For people without kids, this still touches daily life. Simmons and Alexander are real commuter roads in this part of North Las Vegas. If you drive them in the morning or mid-afternoon, you will be driving through an active school zone more clearly marked than before. Plan a couple of extra minutes. It is a small price for a safer street, and a lot cheaper than a doubled school zone fine.

For homeowners and renters near the school, street safety quietly shapes how a neighborhood feels. Families touring homes near an elementary school notice the crossing. They notice if cars are flying past, or if the crosswalk paint has faded away. Working beacons and clean striping are the kind of small, visible upgrades that make a block feel cared for.

The outdoor gyms add a different kind of value. A free place to work out in a neighborhood park is a real perk, especially for residents who do not want to pay a monthly gym fee. Parks like Centennial Hills Park, Lorenzi Park, and Bob Baskin Park already draw families from nearby streets. Adding a free fitness space gives neighbors one more reason to use the park they already live near.

Pedestrian crosswalk in a North Las Vegas school zone near Richard Priest Elementary where parents say pickup traffic gets hectic

Background and History

The Priest Elementary upgrades are one small piece of a much bigger valley-wide effort. After the 2025-2026 school year, more than 400 children were struck by cars going to or from school in the Las Vegas Valley, according to FOX5 Vegas. That number led to the School Traffic Safety Working Group, a panel of 90 experts from every city and the county, law enforcement, CCSD, the Regional Transportation Commission, NDOT, and the Southern Nevada Health District. The group wrote 75 recommendations across education, engineering, and enforcement.

The work has not stopped. At the September 15, 2026 Clark County Board of Commissioners meeting, county officials said that more than 50 students had been struck by cars on their commutes since school started on August 10. They also shared what crews had done in the first 30 days of school within the county's jurisdiction: 1,601 school zone signs replaced, 229 new signs installed, 108 crosswalks and road markings repainted or replaced, and 269 trees trimmed to improve visibility. We broke all of that down in our story on how Clark County rebuilt its school zones.

It is important to know who owns which road. Clark County handles unincorporated areas. The city of North Las Vegas handles its own streets, including the roads around Priest Elementary. That is why the Priest upgrades are a North Las Vegas city project, not a county one. It is also why the timing and details can look different from one side of a city line to the other, even though everyone is working from the same regional playbook.

The rules for school zone flashers have also changed. Under the old state law, flashing school zone signals could only run 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after school, according to FOX5 Vegas. The new law that took effect July 1, 2026 lets local governments stretch that window. Clark County has already done that inside its own jurisdiction, running flashers 40 minutes before and 40 minutes after school. Cities like North Las Vegas now have the same option on their own streets. That makes new beacons on roads like Simmons and Alexander more useful than they would have been a year ago, because the rules behind them are more flexible.

It is also worth noting how this story reached the news. North Las Vegas did not announce the Priest upgrades with a big press event. The plans came out because parents asked questions and a local reporter followed up, first at Ollie Detwiler Elementary and then at Priest. A lot of neighborhood safety work happens this way, quietly and one campus at a time.

The outdoor gyms have their own backstory. The National Fitness Campaign builds outdoor fitness spaces in parks and public areas around the country. The Las Vegas City Council vote adds eight of them across the city, stretching from the northwest at Centennial Hills Park, Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs, and the Hualapai Canyon Trailhead to older central parks like Lorenzi Park. That spread is worth noticing. It means the new spaces are not packed into one part of town.

What Happens Next

For Priest Elementary, the next step is installation. The city has said the beacons on Simmons Street and Alexander Road and the new signs and striping on Fuselier Drive are planned. What it has not said, at least in the reporting so far, is a firm date. Watch for crews along those roads. Once the beacons are up, they will be the signal for when the lower school zone limit applies during arrival and dismissal.

The three other North Las Vegas schools picked in August are expected to be done by the end of 2026. The city also said more improvements could come as money becomes available, working with community stakeholders. In plain terms, parents and neighbors who speak up can help decide which campus gets attention next. The Priest story itself started with one parent's question.

Across the valley, the regional work keeps moving. FOX5 Vegas reported that the working group's mid-term and long-term goals include redesigning roads outside schools, focusing on high-risk areas based on crash data, changing school zone length and design with the RTC, and working with the Legislature on e-device and helmet laws. For the eight outdoor gyms, the next milestone is construction. News 3 did not report an opening date, so keep an eye on the city of Las Vegas parks updates for when each space opens.

Ryan's Take

I like this story because it is so practical. Flashing beacons, new signs, and fresh paint are not the kind of thing that makes a big headline. But they change how a street works every single school day. Anyone who has sat in a pickup line on a busy afternoon knows how fast a normal drive turns into chaos. Clear signals help everyone, the parents, the kids, and the neighbor who is just trying to get home.

From a real estate view, this matters more than people think. When I show homes near an elementary school, parents ask real questions. Can my kid walk there? Is there a safe crossing? Do people speed on this street? A working beacon and clean crosswalks help answer those questions the right way. Same with the outdoor gyms. A free, well-used fitness space in a nearby park is a genuine lifestyle perk, and it is something I will point out to buyers looking near Centennial Hills, Lorenzi Park, or the other sites on the list. These are small wins, but neighborhoods are built on small wins stacked together over time.

School zone speed limit sign against a cloudy sky, a reminder that Nevada doubled school zone fines in 2026

What You Can Do

If you drive near Richard Priest Elementary or Cheyenne High School, get in the habit now. Slow down on Simmons Street and Alexander Road during school hours, even before the beacons go up. Do not make U-turns in the school zone. FOX5 Vegas reported that CCSD police say many drivers do not know that is illegal, and it now falls under the doubled fines. If you are a Priest parent, follow staff directions in the pickup area and watch the turning traffic on San Miguel Avenue.

If there is a school zone near you that feels unsafe, say so. The city of North Las Vegas has said improvements depend partly on funding and community input. Contact your city's public works or traffic department, bring it up at a city council meeting, or reach out to your local news station like one Priest parent did. Specific details help: the street name, the time of day, and what you see happening.

For the new outdoor gyms, bookmark the eight locations: Centennial Hills Park, Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs, Lorenzi Park, Patriot Park, Justice Myron E. Leavitt and Jaycee Community Park, Stewart Place Park, Hualapai Canyon Trailhead, and Bob Baskin Park. When they open, try one out. They are free, and they are right in the neighborhood.