Plan leaves cafe by roadside

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, April 21, 1999 | 10:50 a.m.

A controversial plan to extend Harmon Avenue across Las Vegas Boulevard and over Interstate 15 has already landed Clark County in court and triggered dozens of meetings with high-end property owners.

Public Works officials said earlier this month an agreement had finally been reached on the design for the east-west arterial, but the claim proved false Tuesday when the project was presented to commissioners.

Attorney Chris Kaempfer told board members that representatives of the Harley-Davidson Cafe, at the corner of Harmon and the Strip, regularly attended county-organized meetings with other business owners late last year.

But representatives were mysteriously left off the invite list as county staff came closer to deciding on a final design, he said.

"The perception is we were deliberately excluded from meetings so the option could be proposed that would adversely affect us," Kaempfer said. "I'm not saying that was the motive, but that's the effect."

The plan pitched to county commissioners Tuesday shows Harmon Avenue curving north just east of the Las Vegas Boulevard intersection. The road slices through the Focus 200 property on the northeast before sweeping west.

The bulk of the cost for the intersection would be related to right-of-way acquisitions, which would range between $10 million and $30 million. The original plan to build tunnels beneath the Strip would have cost $51 million.

Kaempfer's beef with the proposed design is that the Harley-Davidson, once squeezed between two thoroughfares, would sit on a frontage road that could be difficult for motorists to find.

He also said because the Harmon-Las Vegas Boulevard intersection would be moved about 350 feet north of the current three-way intersection, the crosswalk leading to the Harley-Davidson would also be adjusted.

About 375 pedestrians walking west to east use the crosswalk per hour, Kaempfer said, adding that many wander into the motorcycle-themed restaurant.

Kaempfer asked that Harley-Davidson signs be erected on the streets surrounding the restaurant and that a pedestrian overcrossing be built where the current crosswalk is located.

The commission approved the design, but asked county staff to look into the cafe's requests.