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StumbleSome Henderson residents decry Boulder City Bypass plans
Homeowners say added traffic from new road will detract from their neighborhoods
Courtesy NDOT
This artist’s rendering shows what the redesigned interchange of the Boulder City Bypass and U.S. 93 would look like at Railroad Pass. The Railroad Pass Casino is to the left. If U.S. 93 is designated an interstate between Las Vegas and Phoenix, the bypass route would become part of the interstate, officials say.
Saturday, July 25, 2009 | 1:59 a.m.
This Nevada Department of Transportation graphic shows the route of the proposed Boulder City Bypass. If U.S. 93 is designated an interstate between Las Vegas and Phoenix, the bypass route would become part of the interstate, officials say.
Archive
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Sun Coverage
Proposed frontage road
Homeowners in Henderson’s southeastern tip are upset about parts of the proposed Boulder City Bypass, but transportation officials say their complaints may be coming too late to make changes in plans first brought to the public in 2002.
Residents in the River Mountain Ranch Estates and Old Vegas neighborhoods say the current design of the new freeway will bring unwanted traffic to their streets, near where the new road will connect to the existing Interstate 515. They also claim the Nevada Department of Transportation and the city have put the wants of Boulder City residents above their safety.
The first round of public meetings and a comment period was held in 2002. Another set of meetings and a comment period was held in 2005, when the Environmental Impact Statement was completed and both NDOT and the Federal Highway Administration signed off on plans for the road.
Many of the homes in Old Vegas, which was once the site of an amusement park, were not built until after 2002, so the residents weren't involved in the public hearings.
But Henderson Assistant Director of Public Works Robert Herr says officials can’t change the established plans because a group of people missed the initial comment period.
“This is under federal guidelines so we can’t just … say we’ll do away with the frontage road because there’s other people involved,” he said.
Area residents are still frustrated, saying that city and transportation officials aren’t concerned about how the project might affect them.
“One of our big questions here is: Why is Henderson throwing us under the trucks?” Old Vegas resident Francis Zitko said.
Design plans for the roadway –- which is still years away from construction –- include a frontage road to connect Foothills Drive in Henderson to Railroad Pass.
Residents are concerned the road, which is being built to relieve truck traffic through Boulder City after the Hoover Dam bypass bridge is completed, will bring large trucks to their residential streets, lowering their property values and making their neighborhood less safe.
“We are trying to start a family. We bought a house on a cul-de-sac so we could be safe, and now we have a freeway dumping traffic into our neighborhood,” said Scott Handley, who moved into the Old Vegas neighborhood in 2006 with his wife, Vanessa, who is now pregnant.
“We bought when the market was high and we’re sucking up the high payments as the value has dropped. Now this is going to hurt us even more,” he said.
The Handleys joined about 100 other residents at a meeting Wednesday night, hosted by the River Mountain Estates Homeowners Association, where NDOT Senior Project Manager Glenn Petrenko gave a presentation about the planned road.
Herr said at the meeting that the frontage road was added to the freeway plans at the request of Boulder City residents during the initial public comment period back in 2002.
“There was concern, mostly from the Boulder City residents, that if there was this freeway system put through, the only way to get from Boulder City into the Las Vegas Valley was on a freeway,” Herr said. “There are many elderly residents in Boulder City and they did not feel comfortable having to get on a freeway in order to do their doctor visits or whatever their trips to the Las Vegas Valley would be.”
But the Henderson residents said they don’t want their neighborhood affected by the will of Boulder City residents.
“I think the atmosphere here is we really don’t want to be an artery at any level for people who don’t want to take the freeway,” Zitko said.
The frontage road would connect to Foothills Drive. To continue to the freeway, motorists would have to take Old Vegas Trail to Wagon Wheel Drive.
Zitko said Old Vegas Trail, which becomes Boulder Highway after passing Wagon Wheel, is wide enough to handle more traffic for future growth in Henderson.
“(But) I doubt this road was built the width it is to accommodate people from the city next door,” Zitko said.
Petrenko and Herr said the frontage road is needed as an alternative to the freeway so local residents can move through the city -- for example, people in Old Vegas going to Railroad Pass -- without going on the freeway.
“(The complaints) caught us a little bit off guard, because for the frontage road, we don’t anticipate many people using it,” Herr said. “But you can’t load all local traffic onto a freeway.”
The frontage road would be built by NDOT as part of construction of the freeway, but after completion would be turned over to the city.
Herr said after the meeting that once the road is complete, Henderson officials could make adjustments to the road, such as posting signs banning trucks from going through the neighborhood.
The residents have another bone to pick with NDOT: They said they weren’t notified of the July 9 meeting held in Boulder City.
“I apologize; the neighborhood was not notified and should have been,” Petrenko said at Wednesday’s meeting.
NDOT spokesman Bob Mckenzie said the Boulder City meeting was advertised in local newspapers. Petrenko said the meeting wasn’t a required forum, but was organized to notify residents of changes made to the original design of the roadway since the previous meetings.
Herr also stressed in the Wednesday meeting that the freeway is still years away from being constructed and the transportation department will take the residents' concerns into consideration.
Funding for the road has yet to be identified. The first phase of the project, which includes the interchange at Railroad Pass and the frontage road, won't be built until at least 2011. The main part of the road around Boulder City won't be built until 2025 or later, Petrenko said.
“We’ve got a long way to go on this project. Before we do anything with moving dirt or anything like that we’re going to have more meetings. We’re going to try to make sure we address this situation, but we can’t solve it tonight,” Herr said.
Herr and Petrenko promised that concerns would be taken into account.
“You’re behind the process but your comments will be considered,” Petrenko told the audience. “This is going to be a process over the years. … We will work with the city and determine what is the best solution for the frontage road.”
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I see the NIMBY's have moved to the southern part of Henderson.
I'm certain the developer knew the plans. Did they disclose that information to these residents. No they didn't. But, the home buyers need to research land usage in the area they plan to buy. But, the slash and burn mentality of the developers lined the pockets of the council, inspectors and commissioners.
The 93 dumps traffic into that neighborhood as it is NOW since the 215 terminates and all traffic has to transfer to the old Boulder Highway at that location. A frontage road is to the local residents benefit, so its hard to believe they're crying so loudly about the unfairness of money being spent mostly on their behalf.
It's called DUE DILIGENCE. You buy a house, you figure out what's coming into the neighborhood.
"Gee, I live next to the ONLY ROAD between Phoenix and Las Vegas. What could happen!"
No one seems to care that this freeway is going through the major parts of Boulder City, and they aren't putting in extra traffic lights, people drive through Nevada Hwy fast enough, once this gets done, all the business on that street you won't be able to get to because of the heavier flow of trucks and traffic. The first part of the freeway after the Hacienda is all residential on booth sides people aren't going to be able to get across the traffic,(alot of the homes over there are owned by seniors) they say they will post speed limits, no one obeys the ones that are there now so what makes anyone think they will obey new ones. The traffic from Arizona just flies on that road (93) right now. They have already said they won't put in a stop light until there are some deaths, so why are people in Henderson complaining, this is effecting both towns.
To All:
I live in the neighborhood affected. Purchased my home in 2005, and was never informed about it. Why would I even think a bypass around BOULDER CITY would affect my residential streets. I live in Henderson.
They want to put a frontage road in so that the senior citizens in BC who are too afraid to drive on the freeway now have to drive past my kids? Are you kidding me? There is an offramp at Wagon Wheel. This frontage road would not even be 2 miles in length. What's the point?
I don't drive to railroad pass as it is, and everyone in this neighborhood who would is used to hopping on the freeway at Wagon Wheel to get to Boulder City anyways.
My neighborhood should not be used to accomodate the residents of Boulder City.
Let me adjust my last sentence - "My neighborhood should not be ABUSED to accomodate the residents of Boulder City".
Wow, such stupid complaining in a liberal town. Like it was said previously, do your due diligence. I have no sympathy for morons that purchase property by the only existing highway connecting two major cities. If they don't like it, they can go. This is a much needed project and is far more important than a few whiny citizens.
Hey Doc, maybe you should read a little better....
I am completely fine with and understood the changes that would come to the existing freeway system. The complaint in the article is about adding an unnecessary frontage road - through my neighborhood - to accomodate the residents of another town.
Trigger -
Did you contact NDOT before you bought your house? I bought a house near a freeway and I made darn sure no future plans already in the works were going to affect my home.
This whole situation is a debacle. Our congresswomen and senators should be winning federal support for funding for this -- and Arizona's delegation should be helping. This bypass should have been done years ago.
These plans have been on the books for nearly a decade.
Boulder City only has 15,000 people, very few have cars, and most never leave their living rooms, so there won't be heavy Boulder City resident traffic on a frontage road. I know many Henderson residents that will use the frontage road to come and go from the lake and Boulder City, NDOT should charge Henderson residents a substantial toll (just kidding). Nearly all people on the highway now are going to or coming from Arizona and beyond. I would find better things to make a fuss about.
TriggerNV: you can't be serious. Do you think that house was out there long before you bought in 2005? You didn't do your homework very well.
To TriggerNV and all of the other affected Henderson residents, here are the key words in this story, from a legal point of view:
"Another set of meetings and a comment period was held in 2005, when the Environmental Impact Statement was completed and both NDOT and the Federal Highway Administration signed off on plans for the road."
In Nevada, there is no lawsuit available to stop the construction of roads or freeways by the State using Federal funds, except to litigate alleged inadequacy of the Environmental Impact Statement for the project prepared by the Federal agency providing the funding. For those who have forgotten, Nevada has no law similar to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), so there is no state law theory on which to file a lawsuit to stop the building of a road or freeway.
Once the NEPA required Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is finalized, and the required public hearings on its content occur, if no one files a lawsuit to attack the legal adequacy of the EIS, within 45 days of the Federal approval of the EIS, the game is over. The public is stuck with the freeway or road at the location where it is shown in the EIS.
In the case of the Boulder City Bypass and the service road associated with it "the game" was over in 2005.
Under NEPA, the fact that people moved into the affected area of Henderson later, and would be harmed by the road's construction, is legally irrelevant. The public is stuck with the freeway or road at the location where it is shown in the EIS.
So don't be mislead by the polite comment by NDOT officials: ""You're behind the process but your comments will be considered,"
Yes, they will consider your comments and say "Too bad for those folks."
If you don't like the idea of these roads being near your home, plan on selling your house or letting the bank foreclose on it. At this point, it's your only option. Do it now or do it later.
Just keep in mind that in Nevada "citizens" have just one opportunity to stop a Federally funded freeway and road construction project, and in the case of this service road and freeway loop, that opportunity occurred in 2005.
And to The Sun: You should not be wasting ink and page space on lost causes. Try writing about environmentally inappropriate projects when the Sierra Club is complaining about them, not 4 years later.
What needs to happen is the effected residents need to say "we are being walled off and placed in a ghetto". That should do the trick.
Maybe they can hire Mr. Gates to represent them.
Trigger, that comment was not directed at you, it was directed at the story and the contents of it. I would have addressed you if I meant to comment to you directly.
just rename your existing streets..
A, B, C, D, and of course F street..
I live in that neighborhood too. We bought in 2007 and had no idea about the road. Honestly though, the biggest sentiment I've got on it is confusion. In the last two years I have never seen enough traffic on the freeway to warrant spending that much money on an access road - especially when Wagonwheel is right there. Being in the middle of a construction project like that bothers me far more than the actual access road.
Govt spending created many jobs in the Great Depression, Hoover Dam for example. Some paint that as socialism, others as a wise public investment -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth
Hey Mr. Zitko and Mr. Handley,
Maybe the reason that Assistant Public Works Director Robert Herr is not being very helpful to your cause is because he and his boss, Public Works Director Robert Murnane both live in Boulder City and are more interested in taking care of Boulder City residents than they do Henderson residents. They've lived in Boulder City longer than they've worked for the City of Henderson!
Fellow River Mountain Residents: You can see by the forgoing comments the lack of sympathy we get from the idiot public. jcanby is on the right track. We must identify who has the power to stop this rotten plan and organize to defeat it. This area is rural overlay. Maybe a cout action along those lines is one way to go.
This project has been on the books for almost a decade. You guys are a late in complaining now. Too bad so sad.
That's right Race Car Diva, and you knew all about it before you read about it yesterday. Plese only use the library's computer to find out when your food stamps are going to arrive. Only posts from property owners are constructive.
We bought our home in the effected area in 1991. To this date we have not received any notification regarding this project. We attended the meeting at Railroad Pass because the HOA informed us of the meeting. It came out at the meeting that the HOA learned of this in the legal section of the newspaper. NDOT acknowledged that we were not notified.
Wagonwheel south of Boulder Highway is a residential street. Foothills south of section 27 is also a residential street. Receipe for disaster?
We specifically asked both our realtor and the developer about land use plans in the area and they failed to disclose the frontage road, which was allegedly a done deal at the time of our purchase.
Traffic from BC doesn't go through a residential neighborhood now, and there is no need to reroute it through one in the future. It would be just as easy to route the frontage road back on to the freeway where the traffic belongs.
We are on the brink of being upside down on the house right now, in spite of putting over 1/3 of the purchase price down on our house. If the freeway and heavy truck traffic comes through our neighborhood, house values will drop even further, and our home will never again be worth what we paid. Most I have talked to in the neighborhood, myself included, will walk away from our properties if that is the case - it will be the only decision that makes sense from an economic standpoint.
Creating a bank-owned ghost town out of the Old Vegas Trail area will have far reaching economic repercussions, and won't benefit anyone in Henderson OR Boulder City.
For all of you who have voiced your opinions that DO NOT LIVE anywhere near section 27, you are greatly misinformed of the impact this frontage road will cause. We already had 3 PREVIOUS meetings about this & each meeting this proposed frontage road was voted AGAINST by the residents. The COH knew this it was no secret how this frontage road would impact section 27 & the DR Horton homes. It will bisect the River Mountain Loop Trails connection into the Sloan Canyon area. During the Silverman triathalon there is an aid station on the corner of Foothills & Old Vegas Trail. If the "elderly" are able to navigate from BC NOW on the freeway to get to the Wagonwheel exit then the "comment" about them not wanting to drive on a freeway is moote, they already are driving on a highway. Because section 27 is and has been deemed a Rural Residential Preserve, ANY construction within 1000' of the neighborhood boundries MUST be presented at one or more of our HOA meetings. NDOT or COH did not properly notify ANY of our homeowners or officers about continuing to keep Foothills on the masterplan since we had voted against it 3 times already. COH & NDOT also needed to do their due dilgence & give proper & LEGAL notification, they did not. In the past RTC tried to sneek a maintainence facility in across Boulder Highway without any notification to the HOA, that was SHOT down even though COH had made a deal with RTC to sell the land at a greatly reduced price, knowing that neither party had notified us. As evidenced, this did not go through and the person at the RTC no longer works there. Living in Section 27 we have horses that use the loop trails & are looking forward to the Sloan Canyon connector as are the bike riders & many other groups. This frontage road will kill that connector. No responsible horse rider will ride along a busy road to get to another part of the trail. There is too much risk involved & COH cannot afford a lawsuit if that rider is thrown because a big rig spooked the horse. Yes, big rig as in 18 wheeler truck. Once the truckers get off at Railroad pass for a break, etc. do you really think they will back track to get back on the freeway. No they will use that Foothills frontage road to get back on at Wagonwheel. Now we have big rig traffic along a school route, through a neighborhood with their lights flashing on the residents windows all day & night,using their jake breaks not to mention the possibility of a run away truck or car (yes it's been known to happen, just remember the guy in Vegas with a car into his house 2 times already)endangering the homes that will have the stop sign literally across the street from their backyards.
We are one of only 4 Rural Residential Preserves left in Henderson, we have a continous battle each & every day to keep our neighborhood the way COH & the residents outlined the preserve years ago. Our due diligence has paid off, our voices work & we will continue to forge ahead to preserve this area.
Actually Pete, if you have ever been to the library , there have been plans and reports about this project there, on file and strewn about for everybody to see for years now. You sure know a lot about food stamps. You can see when your food stamps are arriving online? Good for you! That gives your family something to look forward to also.
You're a liar Race Car Diva. I don't go there but if you had a brain in your head you'd know there no plans and reports about this project strewn about the library. This is horse property with a rural overlay. It's not our fault you have to live in a tiny section 8 apartment. Go be a troll on some other thread. This is a serious subject.