Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Unearthing a solution

Thursday, Dec. 3, 1998 | 11:46 a.m.

THE BENEFIT of tunnel vision.

Clark County Commissioners may be digging themselves deeper into the unending hole of indecision as they try desperately to find a way over, under, around or through the Las Vegas Strip at Harmon Avenue. At last glance, they decided to create another study that might tell them which of yet more financially indecent proposals will get the backing of the greatest number of Strip players affected by any east-west movement.

There are some big numbers being thrown about, too. One plan could cost $50 million while another could be just a fraction, but with far greater traffic congestion for the next umpteen years. Still another plan might help one resort property and adversely affect another to the tune of multimillions of dollars. And the list of challenges goes on and on.

It is hard to remember that far back now, but I think a lot of the same questions and complaints surrounded the plan to build the Desert Inn arterial that now whisks -- most times of the day -- travelers across the Las Vegas Strip with a minimum of disruption to tourist activities and a maximum of pleasure to the citizens who must make the trek on a daily basis. In fact, I am sure that much of the same issues were discussed. The only difference today is that the numbers are higher and the players have moved a mile or so to the south.

It may seem a bit insensitive, but while I was sitting in the dentist's chair the other day, my dentist and longtime friend, David, started drilling home just how ludicrous the discussion has been about the who, what, when, why and wheres of the Harmon Avenue crossover -- or under -- as the case may be. Not wanting to upset anyone who had the power tools directed toward the sensitive areas of my mouth, I wanted desperately to agree with whatever he was saying.

In this particular case, it was no trouble at all because what David wanted was a long-term plan that worked, first and foremost, for the people who lived and worked here. Even if that meant spending more money than what many would think prudent!

Ah, there was the rub, especially coming from the man who for the past 25 years has been consistent about one thing. Taxes. My dentist is by nature opposed to any government plan to impose tax consequences on the people for what government thinks is a good idea -- no matter how sound that idea might be. Sound familiar?

After telling him what I thought -- in between the whirring sounds made in a most threatening manner -- I was convinced that, this time, David had it right. His idea was to tunnel underneath the Strip starting at a point well beyond the need to impact traffic at Las Vegas Boulevard. It would be like one of those big-city tunnels that have been the answer to traffic congestion in cities far larger than our own. And it would tend to cost a little more than politicians have been willing to authorize.

Of course David also had the funding mechanism in place, too. He, like most people in town, suggested that the hotels most directly affected should foot the bill. Wrong!

If we expect the county or any other commissioners to act in the interests of all Las Vegans, then all Las Vegans (and I am talking valleywide residents) should pay the bill. That's what I told the dentist, who was still threatening some kind of Novocain-less excitement should I speak ill of his ideas. It no longer serves any of us, I explained, to reach a consensus for good public policy and then thrust the expense of that policy upon just one or another of our major taxpayers. If it is good for everyone, then everyone should pay something toward that end.

To my great pleasure, my tax-hating friend agreed. That's when I realized that we had hit on a good idea. Moving traffic in this town must not be based on what is economically cheap but, rather, what is long-term smart. If tunneling under the Strip at a cost greater than what has been offered by an interested party or two makes more sense for the traveling public, then that should guide the decision. And if it is good for all of us then we should be part of the financial solution.

That's the road to good and sound government. And that doesn't mean the hotels most benefited can't or shouldn't kick in a greater piece of the action. They should. But so should the rest of us.

Tunnels, for the most part, make a lot of sense. They made sense under Flamingo Road but they didn't happen because the four corners couldn't agree and the politicians were afraid to act. Now that my dentist has acquiesced to raising his taxes for the public good, we have a mechanism that will work.

The challenges of growth can be met. But they can't be solved if we continue to bury our collective heads in the dirt instead of burrowing through it. That's the way to a better, more efficient tomorrow. It's the best part of tunnel vision.