Gaining rights-of-way key step for monorail

Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2002 | 8:27 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas on Monday will host a public hearing on turning over city rights-of-way to the builders of a planned monorail connecting downtown and the Strip.

Jacob Snow, Regional Transportation Commission general manager, said securing the rights to use publicly owned land for the monorail is a necessary administrative step before the monorail company can issue bonds to fund the project.

The monorail project is planned in two phases. The first 4-mile length would connect hotels along the Strip, from Sahara Avenue south. The 3.5-mile second phase would tie downtown to Sahara.

The first phase, to connect with an already working private line at the MGM Grand, should be operating by January 2004. The first phase of monorail track is under construction.

The second phase, depending on financing, could take three to four years before moving people downtown, Snow said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has championed the monorail cause in Washington, securing authorization for federal matching funds for the $650 million in private funding already committed to the project.

Authorization is one thing, but actually getting the money through the appropriations process in Washington is another, Snow said. Bonds will be used to fund much of the first phase of the project and are likely to supply at least initial funding for the second phase, he said.

One right-of-way for the second phase won't be necessary, Snow said. A stop at the Stratosphere is not planned. In December the Stratosphere pulled financial support for the project after the Las Vegas City Council voted down a proposed roller coaster at the hotel.