Beltway project takes another step amid questions

Construction is slated to officially begin Tuesday on another section of the Las Vegas Beltway, but transportation officials still aren't sure what effect the new roadway will have on traffic flow.

"The entire beltway should be complete in 2003," said Mike Hand, the project manager. "Will people driving surface streets in Las Vegas notice much of a difference from the way traffic is now? We don't know. ... What we do know is that if we do nothing, we will be in a horrible situation."

The roadway is being built in anticipation of further population growth, he said.

So far, the $500 million project is on budget and running about one month behind the planned timetable, said Bobby Shelton, a spokesman for the Clark County Public Works Department.

"The rains earlier this year made for some pretty muddy conditions. We couldn't really haul dirt in those conditions. So that put us behind. But we may be able to make up for some of that time as we continue the project," he said.

The next segment to go under construction will stretch from from Tropicana Avenue to Decatur Boulevard in the southwestern part of the city.

But it will not resemble the 6-mile portion of the beltway that already has been created between Interstate 15 and Pecos Road or the 4-mile stretch being constructed between Pecos and U.S. 95. Those sections are designed to be divided four- and six-lane highways.

Instead of being a divided highway, the portion between Tropicana and Decatur will be a system of frontage roads that will consist of two one-way, two-lane roads, which will parallel each other with traffic traveling in opposite directions.

This segment should be complete by late 1999 or early 2000, Shelton said.

"Eventually, this will be a divided highway wrapping around Las Vegas," he said. "But we don't have the money to do that right now. So we are creating a footprint of roadways that will wrap around Las Vegas and eventually be developed into four or six lanes."

The initial stage of the project should be complete in 2003 and it will be a combination of six-lane expressways, four-lane highways, two-lane streets and frontage roads that will link together into a system wrapping around the city.

The completed roadway will be 53 miles long. The cost is being paid by local development and vehicle fees extracted from the Master Transportation Plan that voters passed in 1991. The plan set in place fees designed to raise $100 million a year, with certain fees being designated for certain projects.

"The thought was that those fees are the best way to ensure that growth is paying for growth," Shelton said. "When this project was proposed in 1991, it was designed to address growth issues."

Sometime between 2020 and 2030 an expanded beltway will be done, which will be entirely a multi-lane divided highway.

"We have enough right-of-way that we could eventually have a 10-lane highway wrapping around the city, Hand said. "I don't think it will ever come to that though. I think it is more likely that we will seek other alternatives such as high-occupancy lanes." Such lanes are restricted to vehicles that have multiple passengers.

After the roadway between Decatur and Tropicana is completed, a four-lane segment with a concrete divider will be created between Tropicana and Cheyenne avenues. It should be completed by the end of 2000.

After that is complete, a two-lane road will be constructed along the northern part of the metropolitan area from Cheyenne to Interstate 15.

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