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StumbleState officials: F Street link to be reopened
Roadway would re-link historically black neighborhood to downtown
Members of the Coalition to Stop the F Street Closure march on City Parkway under a U.S. 95 overpass from F Street and Bonanza Road in downtown Las Vegas to City Hall to attend a redevelopment agency meeting Wednesday, January 7, 2009.
Saturday, May 22, 2010 | 4:44 p.m.
F Street to be re-linked
Sun Archives
- Board OKs pursuing stimulus money for F Street project (8-26-2009)
- Senate overrides F Street veto; cost estimated at $45M (6-1-2009)
- Senate panel advances initiative to reopen F Street (5-15-09)
- F Street: Taking on the Road to Nowhere (5-14-2008)
- Protesters march against closure of F Street (4-18-2009)
- Roadwork works up West Las Vegans (12-1-2008)
Beyond the Sun
After loudly protesting the closure of F Street at Interstate 15 months ago, residents were told Saturday the road will reopen, but it likely won’t be for a couple of years.
Las Vegas and Nevada Department of Transportation officials held a town hall meeting at the Culinary Training Academy Saturday morning to talk about the project to reopen the road that connects downtown to West Las Vegas.
Not many residents attended, but people will have a second chance to hear the information and give their input Monday evening at the Doolittle Community Center.
Serious design for the project is set to begin in coming weeks, but the earliest the 18-month construction contract could go out to bid is the summer of 2012, and that’s only if funding is available, said Senior Project Manager Jenica Finnerty.
Residents of the historically black neighborhood protested when F Street was closed in Sept. 2008 as part of a project to widen I-15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl.
Included in the project was a connector road to provide access to the neighborhood through D Street, but that wasn’t enough for residents, who convinced state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, to pass legislation requiring the street to be reopened.
Assembly Bill 304 required the transportation department and city to work together to find the funds to reopen the street.
Assistant City Engineer David Bowers said $2.5 million for the design phase is being funded by the city’s redevelopment agency and $20 million for the construction will come from a capital project tax fund.
But transportation officials say they won’t be sure how much the project is going to cost until the design work is further along. Current estimates range from $20 million to $70 million, Bowers said.
Where the rest of the money will come from if the project goes over $20 million is unsure. The city and state are working together to apply for a TIGER grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, but getting those funds is highly competitive, and some other Southern Nevada projects have been turned down before.
Despite the funding uncertainty, city and state officials are determined to keep residents happy this go-around.
The city has taken the lead on updating residents about the project after residents complained they were not adequately notified of the state’s plans before.
“I think it’s important that you know that we were not involved in the outreach this last time around,” Communications Director David Riggleman told the residents at the Saturday meeting. “And clearly we heard form the community that people just felt like they didn’t know what was going on as it related to F Street, no question. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen this time around.”
In addition to the city-hosted meetings Saturday and Monday, the transportation department will be holding a public information meeting on the project June 9 and an information fair June 26, both at the Dolittle Community Center.
The city has also set up a website for the project, as well as a Facebook page and Twitter account, and residents can e-mail comments to the transportation department at info@dot.state.nv.us, or can send them by mail to Steve Cooke, Nevada Department of Transportation, 1263 S. Stewart St., Carson City, NV, 89712.
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A two minute detour to D Street that could cost from $20 to $70 million... Sounds like the state is rolling in money...
Another pathetic waste of millions to satisfy the constitutents of Senator Horsford. Walk one block down and you can cross under the freeway. Nevada has a 2 billion dollar shortfall now and it will be 3 plus billion by next year. Send the Democrat socialists packing in November folks.
It's called pandering. Just a disgrace.
Whose civil rights are actually violated mred? The people who feel slighted by not being allowed in or the people who are trying to gather privately among themselves? Should my boys be angry because they are not allowed in girl scouts or vice versa? The government should not tell anyone with who they can gather in private. I am sure you love civil rights or to fight against them when they apply to YOUR cause though, don't you?
Typical pandering for the Negro vote. All policians do it. They can't help themselves.
Its better closed off, that way some members of the coalition could enjoy living under the overpass.
Mred, don't try to scare people with your fear mongering rhetoric. Come on. There is no way the legislature got pressured into spending that much money so a small community can cut its downtown commute by 2 minutes.
Here is what will happen. They will put in the underpass then they will condemn the homes as blight. Then turn around and give the land to some wealthy developers who will put in a mall, high end condos and a new casino.
Should I complain about reverse discrimination because I don't have easy access to southern highlands? The money spent to open a new exit, where nobody wants to even go, could pay for those complaining welfare checks for the rest of their lives!
Apparently (based on some unsolicited email I got via the SUN) The Nevada Policy Institute?, aka Gibbons?, shares the views of RAND PAUL, WHEN IT COMES TO DISCRIMINATION IN public accommodations.
William F Buckley did as well at the time.
I guess we are still in the Mississippi of the West mode. I have yet to hear what the Senate candidates' position on the issue is.
Mred, you illiterate partisan scoundrel. Read to understand don't be a hack.
I said that racism has a cost. Previously, through big government policies, we socialized the costs via forced segregation.
In a market economy a racist has to absorb the cost of his or her racism by ignoring a substantial portion of the labor market. This means refusing to hire skilled workers based on arbitrary distinctions unrelated to their skill. This pushes up the price of available labor and thus their costs. This in turn pushes up prices on the racists already reduced consumer base.
Even racist consumers might not want to patronize a racist business because they might be unwilling to pay the extra dollars for their racism.
Second I noted that US discrimination policies had unintended consequences like penalizing a lesbian woman who wanted a gay roommate instead of a radical christian roommate (thanks for utterly failing to address this point).
There are other unintended consequences as well I didn't mention. For example, there is now evidence that nondiscrimination policies are leading to more discrimination because they make hiring minorities more costly. To avoid the additional cost of employing a minority companies avoiding hiring them.
What a total "F"ing waste of tax money. This was nothing but a homeless hang out as far back as I can remember. I'm finding out who supported this before I go vote.
Fed housing law usually does not effect roomates or under 4 units..some state law might.
Apparently the Nevada neo-nut TEA groups (Republican Party??) do agree with Rand Paul and want discrimination in Public accomidations, and street layout and even housing.
Mred, your question is not an honest one. Rand was talking about private discrimination not discrimination in public places like public housing.
Btw, do you support Age Restricted communities?
Do you support state laws that prohibit the kind of discrimination I previously described (With lesbian roommates)?
What about discrimination at college campuses? Should a Christian group allow non Christians to hold office for the club? To flip it on you, should the College Democrats allow Republicans to hold office for the club as well?
Non discrimination policies are simply playing out to their absurd logical conclusion.
I don't think you are bothering to understand the point Rand Paul made...you might be watching too much wing nutery from Rachel Maddow.
"I don't want to be associated with those people, but I also don't want to limit their speech in any way in the sense that we tolerate boorish and uncivilized behavior because that's one of the things freedom requires."
There is his comment. Short attention spans and dishonest left wingers are making this a bigger deal than it should be.
Allowing racists to discriminate (and they have to do so by paying for it themselves) isn't the real problem in America. The real problem is that government policies, like social security, wage labor laws, and public education make it VERY DIFFICULT for minorities to get ahead.
The government, not racism (which still exists) is what is keeping minorities down and out today.
In other news about free speech and the arbitrary application (abuse) of power enjoy this video about free speech on campus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g94EziXw...
Another good one on hypocrisy and hypersensitivity http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFIREorg#p...
Janitor at IUPUI read book and was found guilty of racial harassment (book was Notre Dame vs. the Klan which celebrated a street fight where the Klan was beat up by students of Notre Dame).
The point is this, people get bent out of shape, hypersensative, irrational, and illogical about these issues because we've taken things to bizarre strange new heights.
Essentially what people like Maddow are doing is trying to silence and intimidate political opponents into lock step march in thinking just like you. That is the only reason why people would be so irrational and illogical about it (these people, perhaps yourself, don't care about the truth).
Racial slurs aside, $70 million could be better spent elsewhere in West Las Vegas. A two block detour to D street isn't a burden to anyone. Even if you are walking, you would still have to go past D Street to get downtown. A,B,C, D, E, F, etc.
Other neighborhoods have had their roads closed off due to freeway construction. It is a reality and everyone shares the inconvenience. Sandhill Road at US 95 was cut in two, and there are many other streets you could name as well. GET OVER IT and don't waste $70 million when it could be better used for other needs.
In this economy..and they are going to shell out how much to satisfy a handful..
Complaining about closing off one street when there is another right there is ridiculous..they want to turn everything into a racial issue.
Either take your lazy a** two blocks or you can fund the millions of dollars to satisfy your agenda.
This is great news!! Me and my pals were getting tired of the extra block walk to Freemont to hassle the tourists. Thanxx guys !!