Editorial: Share plans with county growth panel

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 9:13 a.m.

For decades Boulder Highway was the main thoroughfare between Las Vegas and Boulder City. After U.S. 95 was built in the 1980s, the highway's importance as a connector route faded. Today it is a busy but outdated stretch of road serving people who live along it or who wish to patronize its businesses. For the past year, using largely federal funds, the highway has been under study by an engineering firm hired by the Regional Transportation Commission.

The firm, Parsons Brinckerhoff, has a long history of transportation planning in Las Vegas. Ten years ago it was involved in one of the biggest projects in local history -- the redesign of the Spaghetti Bowl. Its study of Boulder Highway is already at the public-hearing stage and work could begin relatively soon, although no schedule has yet been set.

We hope nothing long-term begins until Clark County's new growth committee has a chance to review the study. This committee is so new that its members have not yet been appointed. It has, however, been given a top priority. Its members should be on board by next month and its work should be completed by year's end. Its job is to reach a valley-wide consensus on the way in which our nation-leading growth should be managed.

Some recommended work should start right away on Boulder Highway, such as safety improvements. The highway has developed haphazardly over the years, with housing on one side and commercial destinations on the other, with few crosswalks to accommodate pedestrians. Other recommended improvements, however, should be reviewed by the growth committee.

The firm has suggested, for example, that Boulder Highway is a good candidate for MAX -- Metropolitan Area Express. This is a public transportation system that utilizes a dedicated lane for vehicles that are part bus, part light rail. A MAX system is already planned to start next month on Las Vegas Boulevard between downtown Las Vegas and Nellis Air Force Base. This is a good system, but is this the way it should be planned -- one roadway at a time? The growth committee may recommend that a MAX system is needed for the whole valley, at which point a valley-wide system could be designed.

Boulder Highway goes straight through old Henderson, whose entirety is planned for redevelopment. The highway also passes the county's industrial park. Housing along the road is mostly low income. The growth committee was established to bring valley-wide planning to housing, transportation, redevelopment and zoning -- all of which would be affected by a major transformation of Boulder Highway. Let the work there benefit the whole valley by coordinating it with the growth committee's long-range vision.