Henderson to Las Vegas rail transit project considered

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.

The region's chief transportation agency could take a first step Thursday toward tens of millions of federal dollars for a commuter rail system in southern Las Vegas.

That step also would be part of a larger effort to coordinate all of the local transportation elements of the region, Regional Transportation Commission General Manager Jacob Snow said.

The RTC board will consider accepting bids for an environmental study of the effects an 11-mile, light-rail system would pose. Snow said the study is key to getting federal funding for the project.

RTC analysts have pegged the cost of the project at less than $100 million, a fraction of the cost of many large transportation projects. The Las Vegas monorail, now under construction, costs about $100 million per mile.

The cost for local taxpayers would be less. Snow has said the project will not go forward unless the federal government -- now working on an omnibus six-year transportation funding package -- picks up most of the tab.

"To get the federal funds, you need to have environmental clearance," Snow said.

"We're looking at a new transportation bill, and we want our project to be authorized in it," he said. "If we get authorization from Congress, it's tantamount to a hunting license. It doesn't mean we automatically get the money, but we can go hunting for it."

The environmental assessment should take about one year, Snow said.

"From that point, we would go into the hard engineering."

The project would use off-the-shelf, diesel-powered locomotives manufactured in Colorado to pull the commuter trains from Henderson to the bus station near the south end of the Strip. The initial project could be expanded to connect downtown and North Las Vegas.

Snow and other RTC backers for the project believe one of the advantages to the commuter train is that it would run on existing Union Pacific track, so the agency would not have to buy new rights-of-way or worry about the environmental impacts of new tracks.

"It's pretty straightforward that we would get a finding of 'no significant impact,' " and that would make funding and building the project much easier, he said.

Snow said one of the goals is to make the rail project and other transportation efforts part of a coordinated approach to moving people in and around Las Vegas.

The RTC board also will consider another aspect of that coordinated picture Thursday with a proposal to begin the environmental assessment of a new "intermodal transit facility" in North Las Vegas. That terminal would connect the planned Metropolitan Area Express elongated buses with the regular surface bus system.

"All of these really are part of one system," Snow said. "We're hoping that our congressional delegation will push this as one overall system.

"Really, when you look at it, unless these different elements are connected together, it doesn't work very well."

The proposed commuter train has the support of the two Clark County commissioners whose districts have the existing railroad line.

"We need a coordinated mass transit system," Commissioner Rory Reid said. "Given our growth, it's going to have to have different elements to it. This seems like an element that would fit into our master plan."

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who also is chairman of the RTC board, agrees. Woodbury said he welcomes definitive steps towards the creation of the commuter line.

"I think it could be a great project for our transportation system," he said.