Project delays road improvements at Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area will have to wait a while longer for its first major road upgrade in 20 years, and there are conflicting reports about the scope of the work and when it will be finished.

Bureau of Land Management officials had hoped to see work begin this month on expanded parking lots and new pavement for the park's 13-mile Scenic Drive, but delays on an earlier project have bumped the start date for the new construction into next year.

BLM spokesman Jeff Fontana said the goal is to send the project out to bid in spring and have it finished by mid-summer or at least by the end of the year. "That would be our hope," he said.

Officials still can't say exactly what will be built at Red Rock Canyon, which is the nation's busiest BLM site with more than 1 million annual visitors.

The BLM conducted an environmental review earlier this year on a proposal that included a new return road to let visitors escape the busiest part of Red Rock Canyon without driving the entire scenic loop. The 2.4-mile road would improve access for emergency vehicles and allow motorists to leave the loop at Sandstone Quarry and return to the visitor center.

But Fontana and Catrina Williams, the BLM's manager at Red Rock, said it's unclear whether the return road will be built next year. They said it will all come down to how much money is available from the Federal Lands Highway Program.

For now, work is being held up by an earlier project that was supposed to be finished by Oct. 16 but still isn't done. That $4.94 million job, which began in January, involves construction of two bridges over the Sandstone and Red Rock washes and some changes to the visitor center parking lot meant to improve traffic flow.

"Construction on the next phase will begin after construction of the current phase is done," said Doug Hecox, spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, which will oversee the work. "The estimated duration of the next phase of construction is one year."

The Red Rock road improvements are designed to ease traffic flow and relieve congestion on the scenic loop, which was built in 1995 and now becomes so clogged with vehicles the BLM is forced to temporarily close it around Thanksgiving and other busy holiday weekends.

The upcoming construction work is also likely to snarl traffic at times. Williams said the BLM plans at least one public meeting before the work begins to discuss the construction schedule and its impact on access to the recreation area.

"I know we want to do the best we can to minimize delays and minimize closures," Fontana said.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find him on Twitter: @RefriedBrean