Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997 | 10:25 a.m.
Sixteen homes, a half-dozen businesses and part of a school bit the dust, but from that rubble along Lake Mead Boulevard has come better access through the heart of downtown North Las Vegas.
Business owners who endured several months of torn up roads along the stretch from Pecos Road to Las Vegas Boulevard breathed a collective sigh of relief Wednesday when city officials held their dedication ceremony for the new six-lane "Lake Mead Arterial Highway."
"The businesses have been pretty much understanding," said Edward Bassford, corporate broker for College Park Realty Co., which leases space at the College Park Shopping Center and Civic Center Plaza on Lake Mead Boulevard.
"There were not a lot of complaints because we knew that eventually this project would be of great benefit to us. And we are happy it was finished (one month) ahead of schedule so it won't interrupt the Christmas shopping season."
Bassford said the road's widening, from four to six lanes at a cost of $12 million, will reduce congestion and perhaps entice more folks to shop there instead of going to malls.
"It just makes everything easier to get to," said Bassford, whose office also is on Lake Mead Boulevard.
North Las Vegas Councilman John Rhodes, chairman of the city's redevelopment agency, said the widened road is "something people and downtown businesses can be proud of." He dubbed it the "Lake Mead Arterial Highway."
Kurt Weinrich, director of the Regional Transportation Commission, which funded the project, said the widened road already is helping public transit.
"Last Saturday our Citizens Area Transit Route 210 went on a half-hour schedule seven days a week -- a 15 percent increase in service," he said.
About $1.5 million in city redevelopment funds also were used to complete the project. Next spring, the city will spend $325,000 in landscape enhancements for the widened portion of Lake Mead Boulevard.
North Las Vegas Public Works Director Gary Holler said the project he has worked on for seven years will enable businesses to thrive, even though some of them had to make big sacrifices.
"Tearing up business districts is not for the faint-hearted," Holler said. "I've had to do it twice in my career. I'll never do it again. I have to thank the downtown businesses for their understanding, support and kindness."
One business that was bulldozed was a McDonald's at Lake Mead Boulevard and Roosevelt Street. But the restaurant that will replace it could become a nationwide model of a new type of business.
"It will be a McDonald's/filling station," Holler said. "It's a market test."
Holler said the city took the land from McDonald's in exchange for a portion of Roosevelt, which was then rerouted. McDonald's then demolished its old eatery and purchased adjacent land to create a larger property for the new restaurant and gasoline station.
Holler said 16 Lake Mead Boulevard homes from Pecos Road to Civic Center Drive were taken by eminent domain for $70,000 to $100,000 apiece.
Also lost was part of the Jefferson School, which had to be partially rebuilt.
A Pizza Hut, two taco shops, an auto insurance company and the Chamber of Commerce building all were lost to the widening.
The project began in 1989, with the city seeking about $17 million, but settling for $12 million from the RTC. Traffic counts of 30,000 cars per day in 1991 have since grown to nearly 40,000 today.
The project was done in two phases to avoid shutting down the key artery. Phase one, from Pecos to Civic Center, began in mid-1996 and was completed by last November. Phase two, which slowed traffic in the business district, began in mid-January and was concluded last week.
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