Goodman eyes monorail linking Sahara, Fremont

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Feb. 23, 2001 | 11:21 a.m.

He may no longer be a member of the Regional Transportation Commission, but Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is still intertwined with the board and is helping find funding to extend a monorail to downtown.

Fresh out of a two-year term on the board, Goodman said Thursday he has recently had meetings with RTC General Manager Jacob Snow, officials with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and others to find ways to fund a monorail from Sahara Avenue to Fremont Street.

Goodman is also directing the city's lobbyists to look for federal funds and is hoping to persuade U.S. Sen. John Ensign to help.

Goodman, with downtown redevelopment high on his list of priorities, said extending the monorail is the key to bringing more tourists and their spending to the downtown area.

But he has a challenge if this extension is to become a reality: Who will foot the bill?

The RTC has already approved plans to construct a downtown arm to the $100 million-per-mile monorail that Transit Systems Management is building on the Strip, starting at the MGM Grand at Tropicana Avenue to Sahara Avenue.

The stretch would go from Sahara Avenue to Fremont Street.

RTC spokesman Ingrid Yokum said the extended portion would also cost $100 million per mile and would run 2.1 miles.

The commission is hoping to receive $155 million in federal transit funds once the project is approved, but it has to reapply for the grant, she said.

Bill Mahaffey, manager of transportation and marketing for the LVCVA, said the authority is working with the mayor and the RTC in support of the extended monorail because it is in the best interest of the community and visitors.

"We are in support of the monorail system," he said. "You know how difficult it is to get around town during shows and conventions. It would be a great opportunity to put in a rapid transit type system to move our visitors throughout the city."

Goodman said preliminary talks have mentioned private bonding and the possibility of acquiring federal funds to build the monorail. Ensign may be the key to those funds, he said.

"Sen. Ensign wants to be convinced it would be viable to have the project brought into downtown," Goodman said. "Federal funds should be the springboard for this."

Goodman said the right-of-ways are already carved out in the downtown area, which would cut down the cost of the project.

"This is critical to the redevelopment of downtown that the monorail continues at least to the downtown area," he said.