Driving to the Strip? Leave extra time for road work

By Brian Eckhouse (contact)

Saturday, May 9, 2009 | 2 a.m.

For about 2 1/2 weeks starting late Sunday, installation of new underground power lines to McCarran International Airport may cause big traffic delays along a 1.6-mile stretch of Tropicana Avenue, from near Paradise Road to just east of Interstate 15.

The around-the-clock construction along Tropicana is part of a larger, six-month project to extend power lines to a new electrical substation on the western edge of CityCenter.

Traffic on Tropicana — and on Las Vegas Boulevard near the intersection with Tropicana — will be limited to two through lanes and one turn lane in each direction. (Beginning Sunday, construction workers will be digging beneath Tropicana’s intersection with Las Vegas Boulevard.)

The project is needed, officials say, because electrical substations serving McCarran lack capacity to power any airport expansion, including the emerging Terminal 3, which is scheduled to open in mid-2012. In March, Clark County’s Aviation Department began installing utility lines to a new NV Energy substation along Frank Sinatra Drive.

In September, the Clark County Commission awarded a $13.1 million construction contract to Harber Co., the lowest of five bidding companies.

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And if you think you can dodge the Tropicana headache, here are some other roads projects to test your patience:

Starting Monday and continuing for about four months, road work will cause lane restrictions and temporary closures on five roads just east of Rancho Drive, as well as occasional closures on northbound Rancho at Park Way Drive. Closures are scheduled for weekdays during daytime hours.

The affected roads are Park Way West, Park Way North, Park Way East and Park Way Drive — which intersects Rancho Drive south of U.S. 95 and connects into Rancho Circle.

Las Vegas hired contractor Crisci Builders to remove and rebuild pavement, curbs, gutters and sidewalks. Other tasks include repairs to the area’s sanitary sewer system.

The road rehabilitation project will cost Las Vegas $434,000.

Looking for regular updates on the

$71.3 million widening of U.S. 93 from milepost 17 in Arizona to the new bridge over the Colorado River at Hoover Dam? Like other regional jurisdictions, the Arizona Department of Transportation has launched pages on the Web networks Twitter and Facebook on which to post progress reports.

U.S. 93 is the main thoroughfare connecting the Las Vegas Valley to Phoenix.

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In August, the Regional Transportation Commission will trade its cramped Las Vegas maintenance facility, home of its south valley bus fleet, for a much larger facility at Sunset Road and Decatur Boulevard.

The 34-acre site will accommodate 300 buses, including 70 paratransit vehicles. That dwarfs the current Las Vegas fleet headquarters, which has space for 163 buses on 13 acres at Industrial Road and Tropicana Avenue.

The Sunset Road facility will have 28 maintenance bays, compared with five at the current facility. The new facility also has areas to repaint buses and rebuild parts. (The transportation agency previously outsourced the rebuilding of parts).

One other critical difference: The agency owns the Sunset Road property, while the existing building has been leased for about $37,000 monthly. (The Sunset Road building cost about

$72.5 million, of which about $70 million came from federal funding, agency spokeswoman Tracy Bower says.)

Most of the public won’t visit the new facility. Veolia Transportation, the county’s contracted bus operator, will work out of there as will some Regional Transportation Commission employees, Bower says.

The agency’s other facility is on Simmons Street in North Las Vegas.