Revised LV Strip monorail plan unveiled

Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

The Regional Transportation Commission on Monday unveiled a revised extension of a monorail spur route that would place a station above the Las Vegas Strip between the Riviera and the Stardust hotel-casinos.

The route, unveiled in a public meeting, has been endorsed by the two properties.

The spur extension would run west from track under construction near the Las Vegas Hilton, along the northern edge of the Las Vegas Convention Center Gold parking lot and hugging the southern edge of the Riviera property on a private entrance between the hotel and its parking garage. The route continues west just north of the La Concha Motel and crosses Las Vegas Boulevard between the Stardust and a McDonald's restaurant.

RTC plans show a monorail station would be built as an overpass of the Strip. RTC officials said representatives of Riviera Holdings Corp., owner of the Riviera, and Boyd Gaming Corp., which owns the Stardust, have agreed to split the cost of the station.

The $100 million spur runs eight-tenths of a mile off the 3.6-mile private monorail being built by Las Vegas Monorail Co. The $650 million monorail project is under construction between the Bally's and Sahara hotel-casinos. The project is an extension of an existing monorail operating between the MGM Grand and Bally's.

The alignment unveiled by the RTC Monday is an alternative to similar spur that was rejected in May. The proposal that was rejected would have connected to the monorail line farther north and would have been built along Riviera Boulevard. That route would have curved south on Las Vegas Boulevard to the Stardust.

David Swallow, an RTC engineer, said that route was rejected because of objections from property owners at the Turnberry Estates towers under construction and from representatives of the Mandalay Resort Group, who feared the monorail would obstruct the company's marquee at Circus Circus.

Charles Joseph of Parsons, the engineering firm contracted for the preliminary work on the spur route, said the revised route runs almost entirely over private property and no parking or streets would be affected when the project is completed.

RTC officials are considering alternatives on how the spur would be utilized by passengers. Because the spur could only by used by trains that are southbound along the main route, the agency is exploring using the Las Vegas Hilton stations as a transfer point to passengers wanting to go to the Riviera-Stardust station.

The RTC, which hasn't received any opposition to the new route, and the Federal Transit Administration would next prepare an environmental assessment to continue the project. Swallow said the earliest that construction could start on the spur would be early 2004 with passenger service beginning in early 2007.

The spur is the second monorail extension that has been proposed. Earlier this year, RTC officials said federal funds have been sought for an extension of the project north from the Sahara station to downtown Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, the current Phase I construction of the monorail is on schedule and within budget.

Robert Broadbent, president of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., said Monday that work is continuing along the entire length of the project, including a portion that will pass through a portion of the existing building at Bally's. Trains will be delivered early next year to begin test runs and commercial service is expected to begin in January 2004.