Jones connects with LV Beltway

Monday, Dec. 2, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.

Drivers on the southwest side of the Las Vegas Valley have another way to get around this afternoon.

Clark County Public Works was to cut the ribbon today opening Jones Boulevard between Tropicana Avenue and the Las Vegas Beltway, making the road a major arterial connector for the fast-growing part of the valley.

The $5.1 million project funded by the Regional Transportation Commission will tie existing neighborhoods west of Interstate 15 with the new residential areas popping up south of the beltway.

"It will give people another north-south route for that area of the valley," public works spokesman Bobby Shelton said.

North of the beltway, the road will have six lanes -- three in each direction -- from Tropicana to Patrick Lane. From Patrick to the beltway, the section opening today, Jones will have four lanes, two in each direction.

Several miles south of the beltway, Jones is a two-lane road that intersects with Arden Street and Blue Diamond Road. Shelton said Jones will eventually be upgraded to a full arterial street south of the beltway, but the county does not yet have a schedule for that work.

However, with homes sprouting up in the area south of the beltway, it probably will not be long, he added.

On Friday workers for subcontractor Superior Traffic Service prepared the beltway-and-Jones intersection for today's 3 p.m. ribbon cutting.

"We're just doing the finishing touches here," Superior President Tom Patton said after taking a break from working with a jackhammer.

Patton said Jones' opening should relieve traffic congestion on Rainbow Boulevard, one of the major north-south arterials serving the area.

Other contractors on the project include Wells Cargo and Jacobs Civil Engineering.

The intersection of Jones and the beltway already includes traffic signals. The intersection also has a warning light for beltway traffic, letting east and westbound drivers know they are approaching a red light.