Monorail veering closer to homes

Scott Reeder

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 10:51 a.m.

The Clark County Commission dealt some bad news Wednesday to residents along a proposed monorail route.

Residents of Desert Inn Estates hoped the County Commission would consider a route that would not have the train roaring by their homes as it makes its way between casinos.

But the County Commission voted to reject the route that would bypass the neighborhood.

The monorail route has been a contentious issue for months as neighbors have squared off against the county and the rail-line developer.

It would link Bally's hotel-casino with the Sahara and would be an extension of an existing monorail now operating between Bally's and the MGM Grand.

The leading route now under consideration runs north from Bally's along the back of the Flamingo Hilton, Imperial Palace and Harrah's properties, then heads east to Koval Lane and north to Sands Avenue.

The route then veers east along Sands and north on Paradise, skirting the Desert Inn homes. It has stops at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Sahara.

The route rejected by the commission Wednesday would have traveled northwest along Sands Avenue in front of the Sands Expo Center and crossed the Strip onto Spring Mountain Road.

It would have then turned north into the Fashion Show Mall and the New Frontier hotel-casino, gone across the Desert Inn arterial to the Stardust hotel-casino, then east along Convention Center Drive to the Convention Center before rejoining the original route.

"I'm very disappointed in the decision," former U.S. Sen. Chic Hecht, a resident of Desert Inn Estates, said. "I expect there will be quite a bit of noise coming from this monorail."

County Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury said the problem with the alternate route is that pedestrian bridges are in the way.

But Laura Fitzsimmons, a lawyer representing the neighbors, has another view of the commission's reasons.

"Basically, some of the Strip casinos decided they didn't like that route," she said. "There is no way a bunch of homeowners can prevail against Strip casinos in Las Vegas."

MGM Grand-Bally's Monorail LLC is developing the 4-mile, $350 million project. The County Commission approved a franchise agreement with MGM Grand-Bally's in early December. Fifty-five homeowners sued, charging the route would devalue their homes.

Fitzsimmons said she would have moved to dismiss the lawsuit if the alternate route was approved.

"I feel the County Commission was only giving lip service to the alternate route," she said.

Woodbury said he is not overly concerned about the lawsuit.

"I think we have a pretty good legal position," he said. "It's not uncommon for people to object to certain transportation projects because they go near their neighborhood. Some people object to the Las Vegas Beltway on the same grounds."

Construction on the monorail could begin as early as late summer, said Bob Broadbent, manager of the monorail company.