Cars to travel Frank’s way

Jeff Schweers

Friday, May 29, 1998 | 10:01 a.m.

Start spreading the news.

Clark County Commissioner Lorraine Hunt wants to honor Frank Sinatra by naming a proposed access road for the hotel-casinos on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip after the legendary crooner who helped give Las Vegas an aura of uptown glamour during the 1950s and '60s.

"It's a fine tribute for a man who helped really put Las Vegas on the map," Hunt said, recalling how as a teenager and aspiring singer she and a girlfriend would hang out backstage while Sinatra and band rehearsed.

Vegas was still a dusty gambling town, Hunt said, when Sinatra turned the Sands Copa Room into the playroom and watering hole for the fabled Rat Pack, his group of entertainment pals that included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop.

"Frank Sinatra brought a new level of sophistication -- the New York thing, the tuxedos, the upscale Copa Cabana feel," Hunt said.

Hunt plans to ask her fellow commissioners next Tuesday to name the frontage road after Sinatra. Usually the commission is given several nominees to consider when naming a street, but this time the Chairman of the Board's widow, Barbara Sinatra, will have it her way.

"We ran it by Barbara Sinatra, and she said she preferred Frank Sinatra Drive," Hunt said. "We said OK, that's what it's going to be."

The resort access drive will run parallel to Interstate 15 from Russell to Spring Mountain roads, with exit ramps that say Frank Sinatra Drive, Hunt said. Lush landscaping is planned for the finished road.

"It's supposed to be very elegant," Hunt said. "A beautiful palm tree-lined drive with his name along the freeway."

The original $40 million cost for construction and right-of-way will be spread among Clark County, the Nevada Department of Transportation and the hotel-casino property owners.

Sam Tso, an engineering consultant with Parsons Brinckerhoff, said the county and NDOT are committed to building the underpasses at Russell, Tropicana Avenue and Flamingo Road.

The hotel-casinos have all committed to building the sections of the frontage road that run through their properties to help cut down on the public's cost.

Circus Circus will build the road on its right-of-way from Russell to Tropicana, the Mirage Corp., which owns the Bellagio, will build the road from Tropicana to Flamingo, and Caesars will build north of Flamingo.

Bobby Shelton, spokesman for the Clark County Department of Public Works, said the county could pay as much as $20 million for its share. That amount would be reduced depending on what kind of right-of-way deal can be negotiated with the various property owners.

"If the final design and everything goes our way, it could cost the county $10 million," Shelton said. "But with those final designs and agreements not completed, it's hard to say what final cost would be."

Construction has begun on Russell Road to accommodate the frontage road, Shelton said, and the Mirage Corp. has built the portion of road that runs behind the Bellagio.