RTC panel ponders plans for rail system

Eric Leake

Friday, March 25, 2005 | 9:12 a.m.

A Regional Transportation Commission committee decided Thursday on how to plan options for a possible fixed-guideway system.

The Regional Fixed Guideway Steering Committee said that whatever form a future fixed guideway or light rail system might take should be decided by concern for safety, noise, cost, community support, versatility, and the impact on traffic.

"We got the themes. Now we have something to work with," consultant Craig Galati said after facilitating the meeting.

The steering committee was formed in September to study the possible 33-mile system that would connect Henderson to North Las Vegas.

The committee was to make recommendations to the RTC board in July, but that has been delayed until October because of a change in federal guidelines, RTC General Manager Jacob Snow told the committee.

Committee members said the delay would give them more time to evaluate options and elicit public input.

At times during Thursday's meeting, the committee was uncertain of its role in the process and where to start in its considerations on the impact, viability, and cost of a potential transportation system.

"I think the hardest thing right now is realizing that we do have to compress this down," said Gary Johnson, the committee chair and an executive with the Las Vegas Monorail.

"We need to kind of focus ourselves on the ones that are going to be the linchpins of how we evaluate a system," Johnson said. "I think this is a painful part of the process."

Snow reminded the committee that a general corridor for the system has already been decided.

"The whole effort here is to ask you to help plan this system so it could be acceptable to the community," Snow said.

Generally, the system would start near Nevada State College in Henderson and utilize the Union Pacific Railroad's Henderson spur, continue behind the Strip to downtown and then along Fifth Street through North Las Vegas to a proposed UNLV satellite campus.

The complete system has been roughly estimated at $700 million, with as much as half of that coming from the federal government, depending upon technologies used. Construction could start around 2009 with the system possibly opening in 2012.

Technologies being considered range from electric light rail to hybrid bus. A subcommittee will consider working examples of the various systems next month.

Committee member Jane Feldman, representing the Sierra Club, said it is important the system goes where residents want to go.

"We need to support the tourists, but we also need to support the people who work there and and go home again," Feldman said of access to the Strip.

She also said that it is important to inform residents of the benefits of the system and get their support.

"There's pretty good information out there right now that your overall property value increases when you're next to a transit system," Feldman said.

It was a comment that some potential neighbors of the system rebuked.

Sierra Vista Ranchos Homeowners Association President Amber Varricchio told the committee that terms such as "not in my backyard" and "not over there either" are cute.

"It's not so cute when it's really truly in your backyard," Varricchio said. "It seems a no-brainer to me."

At least one resident commended the committee and the RTC for starting to make decisions regarding the system.

Ron Bordigioni said he has lived in Las Vegas since the 1960s and rode the bus for a decade. "This is the greatest thing that ever has been proposed for the city," he said.

The committee next meets next month and plans to have additional public forums in May.