Construction on beltway delayed by low bidder’s lawsuit

Steve Marcus

Parts of the Las Vegas Beltway fall short of freeway standards. Upgrades to this stretch in the northwest valley pictured Monday have been delayed by a lawsuit.

By Brian Eckhouse (contact)

Thursday, April 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Clark County hoped to begin overhauling a 2.5-mile stretch of the northern Las Vegas Beltway, from near Tenaya Way to just east of Decatur Boulevard, in early June. The the start of construction has been delayed at least three weeks because the lowest bidder wasn’t selected and has filed a lawsuit.

That section of the beltway is one of a few in the western and northern parts of the Las Vegas Valley yet to be upgraded to freeway status. Traffic signals greet drivers at Jones Boulevard, Bradley Road and Decatur.

The county expects it will take more than two years to rebuild the road, add interchanges at Decatur and Jones, construct a Bradley bridge over the beltway and create a new ramp from northbound U.S. 95.

Last week — a day after the County Commission approved a $116.8 million contract with Las Vegas Paving — the company that submitted the lowest bid sued the county. That bidder, Fisher Sand and Gravel Company, won a quick temporary restraining order against the deal. A District Court judge Monday scheduled a hearing for May 11 to decide whether to block the county’s contract with Las Vegas Paving.

Fisher Sand and Gravel bid $112.2 million, securing the endorsement of the public works director and a deputy district attorney.

But that didn’t win over a majority of the commissioners. Their issue: Fisher Sand and Gravel has the appropriate license for highway engineering, but Las Vegas Paving alleged that its competitor’s subcontractors do not. Fisher Sand and Gravel’s Nevada area manager, Joe Miller, says his subcontractors are properly licensed.

Once the lawsuit is resolved, it will take 30 to 60 days before construction can begin, said Bobby Shelton, a spokesman for the county’s public works department.

The county hopes to complete the project in late 2011, more than a year after a section of the beltway between Charleston Boulevard and Summerlin Parkway is upgraded, Shelton said. Once these projects are done, drivers will be able to get from Cheyenne Avenue on the beltway to Henderson without the interruption of a traffic light.

Two stretches of the beltway east of Decatur with traffic lights could be upgraded by 2013.

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Through the end of next week, only one tram is connecting McCarran International Airport’s main terminal building with the D concourse.

Airport officials on Friday shut down one of the two trams to allow a new one to be installed. The trams link passengers from ticketing in the terminal building to a concourse that serves Allegiant, Delta and United airlines.

The new tram should be operational by May 10, airport spokesman Chris Jones said. In the meantime travelers are encouraged to arrive an additional 30 minutes early. During peak travel periods — 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays — a bus will be used to shuttle some passengers from the terminal building to the concourse.

Once the new south tram is running, all four airport trams — two connect the main building to the C concourse — will have been replaced in the past 18 months. Each tram had traveled more than a million miles — without ever leaving the airport.

The replacement of the four trams, as well as associated mechanical and electrical equipment, cost the county nearly $43 million.

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Traveling to Phoenix by car in the next few months? Expect weeknight delays when you get within an hour of the Arizona capital.

Roadwork on U.S. 93 is necessitating road restrictions Monday evenings through Friday mornings, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. The thoroughfare will be reduced to one lane in each direction, causing expected delays of up to 15 minutes, according to the Arizona Transportation Department.

The project is expected to be completed by July 15.