Street landscaping projects planned in North Las Vegas

Diana Sahagun

Friday, June 23, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

One year from now, the landscaping along Las Vegas Boulevard and Civic Center Drive in North Las Vegas will mirror the landscaping, with its lush mesquite trees, that welcomes residents to Summerlin.

The city's public works department has four roadway projects under way -- two that involve landscaping -- and is planning for a number of improvements in the coming years, all designed to make city streets safer and greener.

At its June 7 meeting, the council accepted $570,000 in federal funds for Las Vegas Boulevard landscaping from Lake Mead Boulevard to Carey Avenue. The council members last month decided that the landscaping should be themed after Canyon Run Drive in Summerlin.

The council has also approved spending $832,000 out of city funds to provide landscaping on Civic Center Drive, from Las Vegas Boulevard to Cheyenne Avenue.

Both projects are expected to be completed in October 2001.

For resident David Scoggins, it's not just about trees and brush, but about making the city look more appealing.

"Out here in the desert, everything is so bland," said Scoggins, who moved to North Las Vegas from Colorado. "It would really help to add some green to the area."

The landscaping projects are a priority for the City Council to beautify the downtown area, said Bob Harary, assistant director for the Public Works Department's engineering division.

"It really helps spruce up the area and hopefully motivates homeowners to also take pride in their homes and yards," Councilwoman Shari Buck said. "We can landscape down the middle, but unless we can get these citizens to have pride in their homes, it won't have the full affect it should have."

The city's two major roadway projects currently under way will come about with the help of federal funds, at no cost to the city.

The widening of Matin Luther King Boulevard from Carey Avenue to Cheyenne will cost $4.4 million, and the Carey Avenue widening from Rancho Drive to Clayton Street will cost $3.5 million -- both entirely federally funded.

The design phase will begin as soon as the city receives the go-ahead from the state, and it is estimated the entire project will take two years to complete.

"It's part of an overall plan to address traffic flow in the northwest," said Public Works Director Jim Bell. The two projects came about from a U.S. 95 corridor study designed to alleviate some of the traffic on the freeway.

On the horizon is a three-phased, multiyear Craig Road improvement project, but only phase one is planned to be funded by the Regional Transportation Commission and city funds.

Phase one, improvements from Decatur Boulevard to Commerce Street, will cost approximately $10 million. So far 70 percent of the design phase is completed. The improvements will expand the traffic capacity of Craig Road within this corridor to more than 65,000 vehicles per day, more than double the existing traffic volume.

At this point, median landscaping is not included in the cost, but Bell said the department is continuing to work to find funding sources.

Craig Road continues to be a problem for the city because of high traffic. Originally, the road was built as a two-lane access for Nellis Air Force Base to U.S. 95, Bell said.

Now, as the northwest part of the city continues to grow, Craig Road is a heavily traveled corridor.

The tentative schedule for completion of phase one is April 2001.

Phase two would extend improvements from Commerce Street to Losee Road, at a cost of $4.6 million.

Phase three is tagged as a top priority to seek federal funds, for the Craig Road overpass project.

The project, estimated at $15 million, can't possibly be absorbed by the city, Bell said. The project is designed to be a NDOT administered project.

The grade of the road needs to be changed because Union Pacific railroad tracks are at ground level and can back up traffic for blocks.