Flood of delays to dry out underpass

Erin Neff

Friday, Jan. 5, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

Four days of hell for motorists will eventually result in heaven for them during future rains.

Before the Charleston Underpass gets its flood control fix, drivers will have to find some temporary alternate routes to get from Charleston Boulevard to Interstate 15.

Las Vegas City Engineer Charles Kajkowski said crews will work around the clock from Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. to Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. to install massive concrete boxes in Charleston Boulevard to connect to the new flood channel boxes on the either side of the road.

Charleston will be closed between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Grand Central Parkway the entire weekend.

"That will conclude the first phase," Kajkowski said. "Then we'll progress with other work for a 25-day period until Feb. 5."

The first four-day construction fest, called a Box-A-Thon, was planned over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend in order to cause the least impact to nearby businesses and residents.

From Jan. 27 to Feb. 5, intermittent lane closures will occur on Martin Luther King between Charleston and Alta Drive. Work will then proceed west on Charleston to Shadow Lane.

The $35 million I-15 freeway channel project is the biggest single project the Regional Flood Control District has funded in Las Vegas. Work began last April and should be completed by summer of 2002.

Mayor Oscar Goodman is so certain the work will end the traditional flooding of the Charleston Underpass that he said he "was going to have myself handcuffed there at the next rain."

In addition to the major work on Charleston Boulevard, other construction is ongoing on Martin Luther King between Charleston and Oakey Boulevard, on Western Avenue between Oakey and Highland Drive and east of I-15 between Alta and Charleston.

The best advice Kajkowski and others have -- find an alternate route.