Stratosphere threat not expected to hurt monorail

Launce Rake and Diana Sahagun

Friday, Dec. 14, 2001 | 10:27 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday will consider a petition by the Stratosphere to end its financial support of a proposed monorail that would link downtown with a private monorail now under construction.

In August, the Stratosphere Corp., city of Las Vegas, the Fremont Street Experience and Boyd Gaming Corp. agreed to contribute $250,000 apiece to fund preliminary studies on the monorail.

But three months later the Stratosphere threatened to pull back its support after a proposed 700-foot thrill ride was denied by the City Council. Residents in the area protested that it would ruin their quality of life in the historic surrounding neighborhood.

Stratosphere executives have said the monorail -- which would stop at the hotel before heading downtown -- is not needed if the casino can't attract riders to an attraction such as the thrill ride.

On Wednesday, the Stratosphere will ask to amend the original agreement that had funded the studies by removing the hotel's name.

Regional Transportation Commission members have said that even without the Stratosphere's support, the proposed monorail would not be harmed.

On Thursday the RTC's general manager, Jacob Snow, said the commission is applying to the federal government for environmental approval to extend the private monorail to downtown. Environmental approval, which must come from the Federal Transit Administration, is necessary in order to obtain federal funds.

The private monorail is being built to run from the MGM-Grand to the Sahara hotel. Its $650 million price is being shared by hotels along the route.

Approval of the environmental study should come in early 2003 and followed by public hearings, Snow said. The first step, the draft environmental impact study, is expected around the beginning of next year.

The timing issue is critical for the agency. The federal green light must come before the end of fiscal year 2003 if the monorail project is to immediately receive federal matching funds.

Bob Broadbent, the chairman of Las Vegas Monorail, said failure to get the environmental study in and approved by the FTA could push back opening of the monorail by three years. The fund that would provide the matching funds expires after 2003, and Congress would have to reauthorize the money.

"It will be a horse race to complete the environmental and engineering process by that time," Snow said. But he was upbeat in his presentation to the RTC board.

"I believe the issue is no longer if it can happen. The issue is when it can happen," he said.

Approval of the environmental study could bring $1 billion in federal funding for the project. Snow said getting the money would allow Las Vegas Monorail, the nonprofit, quasi-public agency undertaking the project, to immediately begin construction on the monorail extension.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., majority whip and chairman of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Committee, championed a budget provision that has passed Congress and allows for private funding, as in the case of the monorail, to qualify for the federal matching funds, Snow told the RTC board.

Tom Jenkins, a consultant with Parsons-Brinkerhoff engineering, said the RTC has decided on the favored route for the planned monorail, a move that should help expedite federal review and approval of the project.

The "single locally preferred alternative" would begin, from the north, at Fremont and Main streets, follow Main down to Las Vegas Boulevard, jog left to Paradise Road, then continue south for about one block, then connect with the existing private monorail system.