Beltway set to roll out to Summerlin

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Summerlin residents and others who live on the Las Vegas Valley's west side will find navigating the roads a bit easier later this month as the beltway embraces their communities.

The Las Vegas Beltway, also known as Interstate 215, will open from Sahara Avenue to Charleston Boulevard on Thursday. Six days later the beltway should be open all the way to Summerlin Parkway.

The beltway will next be opened from Summerlin Parkway to Lake Mead Drive. The southern leg, from Stephanie Street to Decatur Boulevard, is an actual highway. The remainder is in different stages of development and includes five traffic signals and a stop sign at Flamingo Road.

Since construction began in 1993 Clark County has spent about $650 million building the road. When finished in 2003 the road will have cost close to $800 million, county engineers estimate.

After 2003 the county plans to convert the entire beltway into a depressed, interstate highway. That work will occur as traffic demands dictate and funding becomes available.

Bobby Shelton, Clark County Public Works spokesman, said work over the years has been mostly on schedule.

"Right now we're probably three to six months from where we planned to be in 1996," he said. "The challenge was to build something safe and effective with the money we had."

Shelton said for many residents the beltway is already fulfilling its purpose of relieving traffic congestion on surface arterial streets in the valley.

"We have a lot of people using the beltway right now," he said. "We believe it's doing what it needs to do."

Summerlin residents agreed.

"We love it," said Alicia Goffstein of Winter Palace Drive on the west side. "We can avoid (Interstate) 15. To go to the airport and everything is going to be much easier."

The Goffsteins already use the beltway, entering and exiting the roadway at Town Center Drive. But the new Charleston interchange will be several miles closer.

"Town Center is still a little bit out of the way, but it's worth it," Goffstein said.

Motorists will find that the roadway north of Town Center will move a bit faster than some other sections of the beltway. From Town Center to Far Hills Avenue the speed limit will be 55 mph, Shelton said.

The new sections of beltway to open up this month will be two lanes in each direction. Shelton said the work represents something of a milestone for the county's Public Works Department.

With the new sections in place residents will be able to loop around the entire southwest part of the valley -- a section bordered by Interstate 15 on the east, the beltway to the south and west, and Summerlin Parkway to the north.

With the opening of the newest sections, half of the beltway will be in place. Under construction are stretches from Summerlin Parkway to Cheyenne Avenue, El Capitan Way to Jones Boulevard and Jones Boulevard to Simmons Street.

Projects out for construction bids now include Simmons to Pecos Road and Pecos to I-15.

Two more projects are still in a design phase -- Cheyenne to Lone Mountain Road and Lone Mountain to El Capitan.

The Thursday road opening will be proceeded by a ceremony attended by area policy-makers and construction company representatives who worked on the project. The road should be open to traffic by Thursday afternoon, Shelton said.