Proposed Strip spur of monorail hits snag

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 9:34 a.m.

Complaints from hotel operator Mandalay Resort Group have prompted the region's lead transit agency to delay planned construction of a mile-long westward spur on the monorail system.

The proposed spur was to be included in a $439 million extension to the monorail system that would take the line from Sahara Avenue and Paradise Road to downtown Las Vegas. The spur would have split off Paradise, traveled down Riviera Boulevard and gone south on Las Vegas Boulevard before terminating near Desert Inn Road.

Regional Transportation Commission officials unveiled the new proposed design of the monorail minus the spur Thursday morning during the RTC board's regular meeting.

Just one month ago RTC officials thought they had most major interests signed off on the monorail plan. But at 4 p.m. April 15 -- one hour before the public-comment deadline for the required environmental impact statement -- the RTC received a letter objecting to the proposal.

Fred Ohene, RTC assistant general manager, said the agency had met with Mandalay management earlier this year and had obtained a verbal go-ahead from the company. But the protest has led to a deferment of the westward spur, Ohene said.

He said the RTC still backs a spur, but a new supplemental environmental impact study and redesign will be needed.

The main part of the 3-mile monorail extension from Sahara to downtown will go ahead as planned, Ohene said. He estimated the timeline for construction of the westward spur could be delayed by six to eight months.

Mandalay attorney Mike Sloan did not return calls Thursday afternoon, but his protest letter to the RTC indicated a steadfast opposition to running the spur along Las Vegas Boulevard as planned.

"The fact that this proposal appears to affect only a few hotel-casinos does not change the underlying concerns for those properties ..." Sloan wrote. "Let me be clear, we do not want an unsightly fixed guideway system in front of our properties."

Sloan said the monorail as planned could block views of the marquee at Mandalay's properties in that area of the Strip, which include Circus Circus and Slots A Fun next door.

RTC General Manager Jacob Snow said the agency will work with Mandalay to find a design that works.

"This monorail project was going way too smoothly," Snow joked Thursday.

He said snags in a project of this size are inevitable.

"We're talking about changing the future of Las Vegas with this project," Snow said. "It's going to happen."

The monorail extension would be funded by federal funds and bonds. A $650 million privately funded section, also about three miles long, is already under construction and is scheduled to open in late 2004.