Frontage roads given famous names

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | 3:46 p.m.

A basketball coach, entertainer, explorer and a bull rider are being immortalized by having county streets named for them.

The frontage roads along the southern Las Vegas Beltway are being renamed Roy Horn Way and Raphael Rivera Way from Decatur Boulevard to Sunset Road.

The northside frontage road will be named for Rivera. The southside road will bear Horn’s name.

From Sunset north to Tropicana Avenue, the west side frontage road will be named for former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and the east side becomes Brent Thurman Way for the rodeo star killed in 1994 when a bull trampled him during a championship event in Las Vegas.

Tarkanian, known as “Tark the Shark,” coached the Rebels to the NCAA championship in 1990.

Horn teamed with Siegfried Fischbacher for a long-running magic show known for its white tigers. The show at the Mirage was cancelled in 2003 when a tiger mauled Horn.

In 1829, the Mexican scout Rivera found the Las Vegas Springs, making him the first explorer to see the future site of Las Vegas.

The name changes won’t affect existing addresses and the new signs will be installed between September and December at a cost of $186,000, according to the Public Works Department.

Live chat: Tuesday, noon PST; Chat with Krista Creelman; Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question