Why light rail trumps an elevated airport expressway

Monday, May 9, 2016 | 2 a.m.

If the Strip has a problem that needs to be fixed, it is traffic congestion. Sure, locals know how to avoid Strip congestion when heading for a parking garage, either by using certain cross streets or accessing back entrances off Koval Lane or Frank Sinatra Drive. But cars still pour onto the Strip — driven by locals who are showing off the sights to friends and relatives, or by tourists in their own cars or rentals, along with the crush of cabs and ride-share vehicles. And too often locals and visitors alike are pulling out their hair, sitting in gridlock. We can all agree on that much, right?

There are two fixes under discussion. One, favored for now by Clark County commissioners, calls for construction of a two-lane expressway that would rise up 25 feet near the airport on Swenson Street, carrying traffic unchallenged by traffic lights toward the resort corridor. Motorists could take off-ramps (actually, down-ramps back to street level) to get to the Strip via Tropicana and Harmon avenues, or Flamingo Road or, finally, return to street-level Paradise Road north of Flamingo. A second, one-way elevated expressway would take motorists back to the airport area in similar fashion.

If this were a test in critical thinking skills, a high school student may say this sounds pretty cool, but aren’t there still as many vehicles as ever ending up on the Strip? So how does this help traffic? All it’s done is offer a quicker way to enter gridlock.

The other fix — one that is being welcomingly received by many transportation experts but is getting the brush-off by county commissioners — would be the construction of a light-rail system that would connect the airport with downtown, by way of the Strip. This would clearly reduce vehicular traffic; anyone with a suitcase on wheels — most visitors – would have little problem getting to their resort, no worse for wear and enjoying the views along the way. Once in their hotels, tourists would use the light rail system — so popular in Europe and growing in popularity in this country — to get around, cheaply and efficiently. Locals — whether going to work on the Strip or to a concert or sporting event — could access the Strip by parking at park-and-ride lots and getting on a light rail car.

Light rail would reduce Strip traffic. The elevated airport expressway would not. It’s that simple.

County commissioners acknowledge light rail has a future but wonder where the money to build it would come from. And the answer is simple: this system can be launched with the same $200 million that’s already in the bank, money that county commissioners want to spend on the elevated airport expressway. To pay for the entire light rail construction tab, another $200 million would be needed. No worries; the rider fares along the route would be so much greater than the cost of operating the train (that’s already the case with buses along the Strip corridor), that fare surplus could be leveraged for long-term bonds, producing another $100 million. And the Regional Transportation Commission has $100 million in its capital fund.

County commissioners still dismiss the idea, saying it would take too long to design and build, and something needs to be done now. But in fact, with funding coming from local sources, this project could be launched as quickly as the elevated expressway. The county only now is looking for a consultant to give a hard-nosed analysis of the expressway idea. (You’ve already heard ours, and it bears repeating: It will succeed, at a $200 million price tag, at more efficiently dumping cars onto the Strip, solving none of the congestion awaiting them.)

A light rail system would do much more, including making Las Vegas all the more attractive to conventiongoers who, after a few days inside exhibit halls, want to enjoy all that we have to offer. They don’t want traffic congestion. They want what other smart cities offer: the convenience and efficiency of light rail.

Clark County commissioners need to drop their defensiveness and give light rail a hard look before they commit to an inferior solution.