Friday, April 9, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.
The Regional Transportation Commission on Thursday approved an application for a federal grant that would fund what one commission member says will be the Grand Central Station of the Las Vegas Valley.
RTC member Larry Brown, a Las Vegas city councilman, made his comments following a unanimous vote to seek a federal grant, part of which will provide $2.2 million to acquire the land fronting Main Street north of Bonneville Avenue for the Central City Intermodal Transportation Terminal.
The terminal would be the end of the line for the planned downtown monorail extension from the Strip and would replace the Downtown Transportation Center for buses near City Hall. It also may one day be a train station for local commuters on the planned CATrail system.
Plans are for the transit center to be connected by a pedestrian bridge to the 61 acres of former Union Pacific Railroad property just west of Main Street. Las Vegas officials hope to see an urban village fill the site as a key to downtown redevelopment.
"This (transit center) will be a real boost to our redevelopment efforts," Brown said. "This will be our Grand Central Station and it will become the hub of transportation throughout the valley."
Thursday's grant application was part of an $8.3 million request to fund $10.8 million in projects. The other projects involve land acquisition and construction of the North Las Vegas Bus Rapid Transit Center as well as land acquisition for a transit administration and maintenance facility in Southern Clark County. Sites have yet to be determined for those buildings.
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