Beltway may solve traffic on Air Force road

Scott Reeder

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999 | 11:42 a.m.

As part of the planned Las Vegas Beltway project, Clark County is calling for realigning Range Road so that it no longer cuts across Nellis Air Force Base.

Air Force officials expressed concern that traffic using the road would increase once a segment of the Beltway near Nellis Air Force Base is complete by the end of 2001.

"It's not that we object to the public using the road. It is a security issue. During times of heightened national security, we want to be able to close off that road," said Joe Hinds, an Air Force attorney.

The road would link North Las Vegas Boulevard with Interstate 15.

"We understand the Air Force's concerns, and we want to work with them," said Mike Hand, the Beltway project manager. "What we are calling for is building a new Range Road to the north of the base."

Clark County is presenting the creation of a new Range Road as a priority item to the Regional Transportation Commission. The RTC eventually will make a decision on whether to build the road. If it is adopted as an RTC project, it could be paid for by federal and state highway dollars, Hand said.

But Hand said he does not know how much it will cost to construct the road, which will be between 3 and 4 miles in length. He added that there is not a proposed timetable for building the road.

Hand and other Clark County officials talked about Range Road at a public meeting Monday at the North Las Vegas Airport.

The officials also talked about the planned interchange that will link the Beltway with I-15.

"I think this is a great deal," said Joe Espy, a 78-year-old Las Vegan. "I bought 22 acres near where that interchange will be back in 1979. I think I'm going to be able to sell it for 100 times what I paid for it back then."

Espy said he purchased the property for $37,000 and expects it to appreciate in value because the Beltway will spark more commercial development.

Wayne Miller, a Las Vegas real estate broker, said he too believes the project will attract development.

"I think it is a good thing for the area. We should see quite a bit of commercial development along the Beltway. I also think that the area along the new Range Road will have some development, since the road will no longer be surrounded by the Air Force base," he said.

Since a route has not yet been determined for the proposed road, it has not yet been determined what property owners would be affected, Hand said.

The completed Beltway will be 52 miles long and cost about $500 million. It is being funded entirely by local tax monies, ranging from development fees to vehicle fees.

The first stage of the Beltway project, to be complete in 2003, will be a combination of six-lane expressways, four-lane highways, two-lane streets and frontage roads that will link together into a system wrapping around the city.

The are area slicing through North Las Vegas will be two lanes.

Sometime between 2020 and 2030, an expanded Beltway will be completed, which will be entirely a multi-lane divided highway.

A 6-mile portion of the Beltway already is complete between Interstate 15 and Pecos Road.