Fifth Flamingo-Strip bridge on hold

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Dec. 3, 1998 | 11:10 a.m.

After a spirited debate that pitted a prominent Strip resort against a smaller hotel-casino, the County Commission made a decision about a proposed fifth pedestrian bridge at Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard.

The commission chose to cross that bridge when it comes to it.

Until then, the pedestrian overcrossing proposed by the Flamingo-Hilton hotel-casino is on hold.

Commissioners, acting as the zoning board, voted 4-3 on Wednesday to deny a request for variances that would have allowed the Hilton to build a pedestrian bridge from its property to Caesars Palace.

Commissioner Mary Kincaid suggested the county proceed with plans to build two overcrossings at the intersection -- adding to the two already built by Bellagio -- then determine whether pedestrian traffic warrants a fifth bridge.

The Flamingo-Hilton drew plans for a fifth bridge after commissioners approved four overcrossings for the busy intersection last spring and attempted to assess hotel-casinos to collect half the $12 million cost.

The Hilton's bridge would have shared the same landing as the county bridge between Barbary Coast and Caesars, creating a V-shaped structure.

"Is there additional public benefit?" Commissioner Bruce Woodbury asked Wednesday. "If so, we should approve this. If not, we shouldn't approve it. It comes down to that."

Barbary Coast attorney Mike Leavitt argued that the fifth bridge would divert customers from his casino, but Commission Chair Yvonne Atkinson Gates said the board's job is to consider public safety, not business advantages.

"In every bridge built on the Strip, we have never considered customers being diverted from one hotel to another," Gates.

Gates, Lorraine Hunt and Myrna Williams all voted to grant the Flamingo-Hilton its variances. Erin Kenny, Lance Malone, Woodbury and Kincaid voted against it.

On Wednesday, Flamingo-Hilton representatives tried to convince commissioners the bridge was necessary because otherwise pedestrians will have to cross its busy driveway after stepping off the bridge escalator by the Barbary Coast.

James Duddleston, project manager for the Flamingo-Hilton, said 34 percent of the pedestrians that use the existing crosswalk on the north side of the intersection are bound for the Hilton. Only 14 percent have come from or are headed to Barbary Coast, he said.

The Hilton's attorney, Frank Schreck, emphasized that his hotel has 3,800 rooms and many more customers than Barbary Coast, which has only 220 rooms.

He said a bridge leading directly to the Hilton would improve the flow of traffic in and out of the hotel-casino's driveway and it could replace a dangerous crosswalk north of the intersection.

"Our motivation is to serve customers," Schreck said. "Barbary Coast exists because of variances; it wouldn't be approved today. It's an anomaly on the Strip where it is located."

Mike Leavitt, who represents Barbary Coast, scoffed at Hilton's assertion that it wants a fifth bridge to provide safety to pedestrians. He said the hotel-casino's real motive is to divert pedestrians from Barbary Coast and guide them into the Flamingo-Hilton.

Leavitt said building one bridge on the corner would accommodate customers and give them a choice of entering Barbary Coast or walking to a neighboring casino.

"It's unsafe because of the driveway? Do you know how many driveways there are up and down the Strip?" Leavitt said. "If they're really concerned about safety, let's put a bridge across their driveway."

Leavitt said Flamingo-Hilton representatives initially argued against the single bridge because of aesthetics; it blocked the few of the hotel-casino's entrance. Now, Leavitt said, the Hilton is building a case around safety.

Leavitt presented a computer-generated picture of the Strip with the V-shaped bridge looming over Las Vegas Boulevard, which seemed to sway some commissioners' vote.

"I don't like the way that looked," Kincaid said.

The Flamingo-Hilton only needed permission from the state to build the pedestrian bridge, which it had verbally received. The final step was to be granted variances by the county.

Last month, the county gave up on haggling with Bally's, Barbary Coast and Caesars about who should pay what portion of the county-planned pedestrian bridges. The county had already agreed to pay half the cost.

The County Commission voted to pay for the two bridges using Resort Corridor Funds, money collected from room taxes along the Strip.