Ceremony signals progress of Las Vegas Beltway in northwest

Friday, Oct. 1, 1999 | 10:22 a.m.

City and county officials broke ground Thursday on a new $9.5 million Las Vegas Beltway interchange with U.S. 95 in the northwest area of the valley.

The interchange, at Centennial Parkway and a key link to the northwest Town Center, will take 13 months to complete, said Mike Hand, principal civil engineer for the Clark County Public Works Department. Hand called the interchange project a "critical first link in the northern and western beltway."

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony were County Commissioner Lance Malone and Las Vegas Councilman Larry Brown. Brown and Malone represent residents in the fast-growing northwest.

Brown pointed out that the interchange will be in the heart of the future Town Center, a 2,000-acre commercial corridor to serve the surrounding residential communities.

Restricting business development to the commercial corridor will help preserve the character of the rural communities -- the horse farms and large-tract homes -- in the northwest area, he said.

Malone said the interchange and future beltway development will be critical in reducing the volume of traffic along U.S. 95.

Las Vegas-based American Asphalt and Grading is the prime contractor for the project. About a dozen subcontractors also were recognized at the ceremony.

The beltway interchange will include a four-lane bridge over U.S. 95 connecting Centennial Parkway to the east and west. From this interchange, the northern segment of the beltway will be extended to the east and consist of a two-lane roadway between Tenaya Way and Interstate 15.

Hand said the work will make the interchange safer for residents in the area and motorists on U.S. 95. He said of particular concern are gravel trucks now entering from the west onto U.S. 95 directly from Centennial Parkway, and traffic to and from Centennial High School at Centennial and Hualapai Way.

No Nevada Department of Transportation funds will be used for the project. Clark County will fund $9.2 million of the project through a 1 percent motor vehicle registration tax and a development fee amounting to $500 per single family dwelling, or 50 cents per square foot of commercial space, Hand said. The Regional Transportation Commission will fund the remaining $300,000 from the agency's 9 cents per gallon fuel tax, he said.

When completed, the beltway will be a $1.5 billion highway that by the end of 2003 should provide a route around the southern, western and northern perimeter of the valley.

Construction of the beltway is expected to continue for 25 years, but county and city officials in 1996 approved an accelerated plan to deal with the valley's growth that will combine full or partial freeways with two-lane roads where the traffic volume is lighter.