Wednesday, June 5, 2002 | 9:22 a.m.
Fixing potholes or getting permits for developments on the Strip will soon be a one-stop deal.
The state Transportation Department board unanimously passed a proposal Tuesday to relinquish Las Vegas Boulevard South from Sahara Avenue to Russell Road to Clark County.
The move takes maintenance duties on the Strip, which is a state route, off the state's hands and allows Clark County to have control over all public works needs and all use permits.
"It makes it more user-friendly, if you will, for the local constituents and developers," Bobby Shelton, public information coordinator for the Clark County Department of Public Works, said.
Before the switch, developers had to go to both the county and Nevada Department of Transportation for use permits, and there was often confusion, Shelton said.
The board hopes to pass on control of other state routes -- including the rest of Las Vegas Boulevard -- to local authorities so the state can focus on improving major highways and interstates, Chief Deputy Attorney Brian Hutchins said.
Those improvements include a new master plan for beautification of the roadways, the widening of U.S. 95 from Rainbow to the Spaghetti Bowl interchange with Interstate 15 and I-15 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Lake Mead Boulevard, and a new road from Boulder City to a proposed Hoover Dam bypass bridge south of the dam.
The board also relinquished a portion of Eastern Avenue from Sahara to Owens avenues to the city of Las Vegas. North Las Vegas plans to take over Civic Center Drive after the state finishes overlaying the street, Jim Bell, public information officer for North Las Vegas Public Works, said.
Board members unanimously approved the beautification plan, which gives a blueprint for landscape development that encourages NDOT, local government and the public to work together on aesthetic projects.
The plan designates up to $2.5 million toward landscaping roadways for the next two years, with another $2 million set aside annually for three years for a 50-50 matching grant program for communities to improve current beautification projects, Susan Martinovich, assistant director of engineering for NDOT, said.
Gov. Kenny Guinn insisted that the department begin its beautification efforts with the Spaghetti Bowl.
"I drive through there every day, and it's just ugly," Guinn said.
Construction on widening U.S. 95 to 10 lanes remains halted due to a Sierra Club lawsuit filed April 22. The Sierra Club argues that the Federal Highway Administration hasn't adequately studied possible cancer risks for people living nearby and is suing to reopen the Environmental Impact Statement.
Guinn called the lawsuit "frivolous" at Tuesday's meeting. In a brief before the board, Hutchins said NDOT and the Federal Highway Administration are in talks and have until June 21 to respond to the lawsuit.
NDOT presented its latest proposal Tuesday to widen the portion of I-15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl after an in-depth study to meet long-term transportation needs in that area. The proposed $700 million plan includes improvement of arterial streets and bus transit as well as widening the freeway up to 10 lanes.
Groundbreaking for a bridge across the Colorado River near Hoover Dam is set for late October, NDOT director Tom Stephens said at the meeting. The $237 million project, set for completion in 2007, will allow truck traffic, banned during the past several months on the dam, to avoid the longer alternate route through Laughlin.
The department is working with Boulder City residents in planning a new access road that will join the bridge, Stephens said.
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