Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

RTC project gets NLV up in arms

North Las Vegas and the Regional Transportation Commission are locking horns over a planned super-arterial along North 5th Street that city officials contend may endanger a proposed regional mall and other development along the corridor.

The street project is to widen seven miles of North 5th Street and would link the Las Vegas Beltway with Las Vegas Boulevard at Owens Avenue near downtown Las Vegas. It would turn a congested two-lane road into a six-lane north-south superarterial that would serve as an alternative to Interstate 15. It is also to include bus and bike lanes and a designated corridor for light rail.

But some city officials and property owners are objecting to the restricted access that commercial and retail businesses would have off North Fifth Street between Carey Avenue and the Las Vegas Beltway. The proposed plan allows for right turns only getting on and getting off the superarterial on a six-mile section north of Carey Avenue.

The only way to make a left turn would be to exit from the super-arterial and loop around at either Craig Road, Ann Road or Cheyenne Avenue where there would be lighted intersections. Those intersections are 1.5 miles from each other.

The Michigan-based developer of the mall on 160 acres at the southeast corner of North 5th Street and Craig Road, wants the superarterial to have a ground-level lighted intersection between Craig and Alexander roads. That would stop traffic both ways directly in front of the 1.5 million square-foot retail and entertainment complex with a movie theater, restaurants and office complex.

The North Las Vegas City Council, which has already approved a zoning change for the project, is mulling whether to support the developer's request.

If North Las Vegas backs such a plan, that will jeopardize the RTC ultimately approving the $200 million project that is similar to Desert Inn Road superarterial and the light rail corridor, said Jacob Snow, the RTC's general manager. The RTC has already allocated $15 million for land acquisition and preliminary engineering but has yet to fund the construction expected to take place over the next eight years.

Snow said installing traffic signals along North 5th Street would defeat the purpose of building the super-arterial in the first place. The whole point of the project is to move traffic quickly north and south, to alleviate congestion on I-15. The 150-foot-wide limited-access super-arterial with a speed limit of 45 mph is expected to reduce commutes by up to 20 minutes.

"The concept all along, and one of the reasons we are able to support it with such a high price tag, is that there would be no stop signs and traffic signals," Snow said. "The benefit would go away completely (if the mall developer's request is fulfilled.) Why would someone want to get off a congested I-15 to have to wait longer?"

That warning over a potential loss of funding angered North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon who went on the offensive Monday by issuing a press release attacking the RTC. He also made the issue a central focus Tuesday night of a Town Hall meeting he organized that brought out several property owners along North 5th Street. Emulating Montandon's message, they objected to restricted access to their company vehicles and customers.

There was concern it would even endanger students attending schools along the corridor and movement of ambulances. There were questions on whether the city wanted another I-15 or I-215. Planners say the superarterial could accommodate up to 65,000 cars a day. That's well above the 10,000 to 12,000 a day that use existing portions of the road today.

"That's what freeways are for," said North 5th Street property owner Bob Gore.

If the RTC's superarterial plan moves forward, it would rely on the $2.7 billion Question 10 tax package passed by voters in 2002, which Snow said earmarked money for high-speed lanes. Spending funds on a project with signalized intersections may not be eligible, but if it is, it may have a lower priority for the RTC than other proposed super-arterials, including Rancho Drive, he said.

"We made promises that we weren't going to spend Question 10 funds for economic development," Snow said. "It is just a question of what is the bigger priority (to North Las Vegas), development or transportation improvements."

Montandon argues the commercial and retail businesses along the corridor should have better access along North 5th Street. He said the regional mall project is important for a community that lacks major retail stores, and he is concerned the developer will drop the plans without that access.

Montandon said he didn't know that the North 5th Street project would have limited access as proposed, and other council members have said the same.

"The Regional Transportation Commission believes they know what's best for our city but their plans will kill this wonderful project," said Montandon, noting that his city's residents backed the 2002 vote for theregional street improvements. "What I am asking for in this particular case is some input on what the public wants to see on 5th Street."

Snow said he's surprised and disappointed at the criticism about a project that North Las Vegas city officials have long known about.

Councilman Robert Eliason, who has served as the city's representative on the RTC for two months, said he's surprised his colleagues didn't know about the limited access as well. He said he's known about it since the project has been under consideration for about two years.

Eliason said Montandon's stinging comments about the RTC are simply a result of frustration that the city may lose the money. He said he's concerned too and hopes a solution can be found, adding he doesn't want to jeopardize much-needed transportation funding. If the developer backs out, he said there are competing plans for the city to get its first regional mall at the northwest corner of Centennial Parkway and Losee Road.

There may be a solution. One proposal floated Tuesday by the RTC that wouldn't cost any more money would shift 5th Street onto federal land near Craig Road to allow easier access to the proposed mall to northbound and southbound traffic.

George Garcia, the Henderson-based planning consultant representing mall developer Nelson Ventures, said he hadn't had a opportunity to review the proposal. He said the developer would soon decide whether to proceed with the project if there isn't improved access.

"We pretty much think access is critical to any project of this magnitude," Garcia. "Look at the major malls. All we are asking for is what the Galleria, Meadows Mall and any other major shopping center has -- full signalized access where you can pull up and turn right or left."

Many malls across the country are located along freeways with exits, however. In this case in North Las Vegas, the three-lane road elevates as it approaches Craig Road with two lanes in each direction serving as an arterial. The outside lane for cars exits to the Craig Road intersection where the mall can be accessed.

Garcia admits freeway access has worked well for malls in other parts of the country but said it's not a model that has been tried in the Las Vegas valley. He said people like to access shopping centers off streets with traffic lights.

"We know what works here," Garcia said. "That is a tried and true formula. Just because it works somewhere else doesn't mean it will work here."

The project also will require condemning a handful of homes, officials said.

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