Park, ride facility gets stimulus start
Federal stimulus money has finally launched a Clark County transportation project.
A groundbreaking Wednesday marked the start of construction on the Centennial Hills Park and Ride facility.
Of the $11.9 million price tag, nearly $8.8 million comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. When completed in January, the facility will be a hub for northwest valley residents to take express bus service to downtown, the Strip and onto the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
All for $3 or less a ride.
The facility, which will be located on the north side of Elkhorn Road, between Durango Drive and U.S. Highway 95, will feature 900 parking spaces, bike racks and an air-conditioned building for passengers awaiting a bus.
The construction could produce an estimated 68 jobs, a transportation official said.
The express service will follow U.S. 95 south to downtown, using the high occupancy lanes.
Jacob Snow, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission, said it should take about 18 minutes to get from the facility to downtown on the express bus. Currently, such a bus trip can take more than an hour, Snow said.
Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross said he expects the express bus will be quite popular among northwest commuters, which will go a long way toward helping relieve congestion and helping the environment.
"The more cars we get off the streets and freeways means we're doing our job," said Ross, who is also a member of the Transportation Commission.
Meanwhile, Mayor Oscar Goodman who attended the groundbreaking, said if he were using the express service he would use the 18 minutes "to read the sports page and figure out who to bet on."
Fare pricing will be the same as for the Deuce, said Tracy Bower, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Commission. The Deuce regular fares are $3 for one ride, $7 for a 24-hour all access pass, $15 for a three-day all access pass, and $55 for a 30-day all access pass.
The Transportation Commission plans on using the remaining federal stimulus money allocated to public transit on constructing the Boulder Highway ACE rapid transit route ($19.3 million) and to help pay for the construction of the Central City Terminal downtown ($5.5 million).
A total of about $33.6 million in federal stimulus money was set aside for public transit projects in Southern Nevada.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904.
