LAS VEGAS SUNGetting from one end of the valley in Henderson to the other end
in North Las Vegas without hitting traffic is nearly impossible,
especially if you're passing by the Strip.
A much-discussed light-rail commuter line proposed to run from
the Nevada State College at Henderson to downtown Las Vegas
would carry commuters past much of that traffic. And now a
second phase is being studied, an addition to the commuter line
that would extend it to North Las Vegas using train or bus service.
The proposed extension of the commuter line to North Las
Vegas is given a realistic chance of being built; the
Henderson-to-downtown Las Vegas phase is a lock to happen,
top Clark County government and regional transportation officials said.
The officials predicted that the first phase will be completed by
2008, with the proposed extension to North Las Vegas to be
completed by 2014, and possibly as soon as 2012.
North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon said extending the
proposed commuter line to a planned satellite campus of the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, north of the Las Vegas Beltway
would be "awesome."
The entire 31-mile line, which a regional planning official said
could cost $700 million, would connect the satellite campus to
other schools in the Las Vegas Valley. Those connections could
only help the North Las Vegas campus succeed, Montandon said.
"Someday, maybe 20 years from now, that campus will be larger
than the main campus is now, and the connectivity will make
that better," Montandon said.
Henderson City Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said the
proposed commuter line would make trips into the city easier,
whether it's for a workday meeting or night on the town.
"Imagine on weekends you could eat at the Bellagio or go to a
show at the House of Blues and you don't even have to worry
about anything," Cyphers said. "You just take the ride home."
A Regional Transportation Commission study has been looking
at the southern link from Henderson to downtown Las Vegas
since last summer. The possible northern leg of the line was
added to the study about three or four months ago at the request
of North Las Vegas officials, RTC Assistant Planning Manager
Bruce Turner said.
North Las Vegas Councilwoman Shari Buck, the city's
representative on the RTC board, said government leaders need
to consider a northern leg of the transit system so they can start
planning for it.
"If we don't look at this now we'll be running out of land," Buck
said, referring to the property that would be needed to put a rail
or other transit line on. She said that while the route through
Henderson is along an existing rail line, much of the North Las
Vegas route is not, making it unclear whether a train, bus, both
-- or something else -- would carry passengers along the
proposed commuter line.
The current study, which focuses on whether there is demand for
the proposed commuter line, is expected to be done by June 30,
Turner said. Subsequent studies and planning could take another
two to three years.
Turner said the southern part of the transit line, from Henderson
to downtown Las Vegas, could be running by the end of 2008.
The North Las Vegas piece of the line is considered phase two of
the project and would be done later, he said.
RTC General Manager Jacob Snow said the entire transit line
could be completed in eight to 10 years.
Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, chairman of the
RTC board, said he, too, expects a Henderson to North Las
Vegas connection will be up and running within 10 years.
"We're going to do it, and you can go to the bank with that,"
Woodbury, who represents Henderson, said of the Henderson
piece of the line.
He said the North Las Vegas leg of the line is very realistic as well.
"The UNLV expansion will make it necessary," he said. "I could
also see a future phase that goes to Boulder City."
Snow said preliminary estimates for the project put the cost of a
line from North Las Vegas to Henderson at $700 million. A
transit line from Henderson to downtown Las Vegas could cost
$180 million, or $340 million if double tracks are built, he said.
Snow and Woodbury said funding for the project would likely
come from the federal government and proceeds from
government land sales through the Southern Nevada Public
Lands Management Act.
Funds could also come from the $2.7 billion transportation tax
package supported by Question 10 in 2002 and by state
lawmakers in 2003.
The Question 10 monies could be used to attract federal
matching funds, RTC spokeswoman Sue Christiansen said.
If the plans go ahead, the current public bus system, the
monorail, and Metropolitan Area Express, or MAX, system, and
the north-south transit system would all interconnect -- with the
main hub in downtown Las Vegas, just south of the Plaza hotel
on Main Street.
In addition to the main north-south transit line being studied, the
RTC is also looking at a route along existing rail lines from
downtown Las Vegas to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a route
that would only be used for special events.
The north-south line would not go to Nellis Air Force Base
because the base will be served by the MAX system, which is a
hybrid of a light-rail train and bus that will use dedicated lanes to
go up and down Las Vegas Boulevard between downtown Las
Vegas and Nellis. The MAX system is expected to begin
operating this summer.
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June 22, 2004
High-speed Vegas-L.A. train pitched to public
The Maglev Project, while nothing new, is being revived with series of meetings
By Stephen Curran
LAS VEGAS SUN
Supporters of a $1 billion high-speed rail line that would eventually link Las Vegas
to Southern California took their pitch for the project, considered "the first step" in
linking two of the nation's top tourist draws, to about 10 residents who attended
a public scoping meeting on Monday.
Representatives from the California-Nevada Train Commission and their private-sector
partner, the American Magline Group, were on hand at Las Vegas City Hall,
answering questions on everything from the cost of the Maglev Project, a high-speed
train system which would eventually transport passengers from Anaheim, Calif.,
to whether the 300-mph railroad would be safe from international terrorism.
The meeting was the first of five meetings to pitch "The First 40 Miles," which
supporters have dubbed the Las Vegas-to-Primm stretch of the 269-mile route to
Anaheim, home of Disneyland. The magnetic-levitation train would reduce travel time
between the two cities to 86 minutes.
The project now hinges on whether the recently approved $1.3 billion transportation bill
approved by the House in April will allow for the initial stage of the project to move
forward, said Neil Cummings, project manager for the Los Angeles-based American Magline Group.
Cummings likens the project to the Eisenhower-era Interstate highway system freeway,
which essentially inked highways on the East and West coasts.
"The federal government has got to help build this," he said. "What company is going
to invest $1.3 billion on a project that will take years to make money? It's a pipe dream
(to turn the project entirely to the private sector)."
A study commissioned by the American Magline Group and the Federal Railroad Administration
estimated the rail line would eventually bring in $75 million a year, eventually offsetting the
roject's high start-up costs.
A similar project is also being studied in congested parts of the East Coast, including areas
near Pittsburgh and Baltimore, said Christopher Bonati, the environmental program manager
for the Federal Railroad Administration.
But Cummings said high costs -- $80 million a mile -- of building in populous urban areas
make the East Coast project too expensive. The Las Vegas-Anaheim route by comparison
would cost about $30 million a mile.
John Kamin, a Tarzana, Calif.-based economist who in the 1970s invested in land on
South Las Vegas Boulevard, attended the meeting. He said he was in favor of the project,
as long as it didn't interfere with his business interests.
Handled correctly, Kamin said the rail line could be a boon to real-estate owners along
the route.
"Anything that improves the infrastructure is a good thing," he said. "As an economist,
I could see it (the growth) in the 1970s. You don't need to be a rocket scientist."
But that explosive growth, while a money-maker for many, is exactly what concerns
Las Vegas resident Chris Christoff, an admitted supporter of the project who said the
rail line is coming "10 years too late" to be useful to local residents.
Christoff said a proposed central station for the Maglev, located downtown, is based on
outdated estimates of traffic flow. A better proposal would be to route the train from
Henderson to the south part of the Strip, he said.
"You've got all these things jammed in there," Christoff said, pointing at a map of
downtown Las Vegas. "Ten years from now it'll be a disaster. The right time was 10 years ago."
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