Strip safety versus sightseeing: County finds middle ground

It's one of the world's most iconic marquees, but people don't pay much attention to the words on the back of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.

"Drive Carefully"? Not when that must-have vacation snapshot is at stake.

For years, visitors have happily risked their lives to get their pictures taken in front of the welcome sign at the start of the Strip, just south of Russell Road. They park their rental cars in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard or sprint across three lanes of traffic. They get dropped off in the median by tour buses and wedding-chapel limousines. They jockey for position with film crews from around the world.

With little hope of keeping people away, Clark County commissioners on Tuesday approved a proposal to address the mounting safety issue by building a parking lot in the median south of the sign.

The project is expected to cost between $400,000 and $500,000 and include 12 parking spaces, two handicapped spots and room for at least two tour buses or limousines.

Construction should begin within a year, said Denis Cederburg, public works director for the county.

"This is an existing public safety problem," he said. "It's a popular site, and we have a lot of jaywalking. There are a lot of vehicles that actually stop in the middle of the road."

Las Vegas police officer Robert Bohanon works out of a station just down the road from the sign, and he has seen plenty of careless driving in that area over the years.

"The primary thing is rubbernecking," he said. "Usually when the showgirls are out there taking pictures with someone or there is a bachelorette party, everybody wants to take a look."

The parking lot sounds like a great idea to Betty Willis, who designed the original welcome sign in 1959.

The 84-year-old Willis said she has been sworn at by passing motorists and nearly hit by a taxi cab while crossing the street to be photographed with her signature creation.

"It's been a problem for a while," she said.

Cederburg said the lot will be paid for with room tax revenue, but Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani suggested something a bit more direct. She called for "an assessment" on tour and limo companies, "since they're dropping them (their passengers) in the middle of the median illegally anyway."

Giunchigliani also asked what might happen to the new parking lot should the Regional Transportation Commission move ahead with a plan to tear up the Strip's landscaped median and put in express bus lanes.

Cederburg said he did not know the status of the RTC plan or whether it would extend as far south as the sign.

The RTC proposal, which includes Las Vegas Boulevard from Sunset Road to Sahara Avenue or beyond, is not expected to be developed before 2014.

Giunchigliani questioned the wisdom of building a parking lot that might have to be torn up in a few years, and she wondered whether it would be cheaper to simply move the sign to a less congested location.

"We have never given that any serious consideration," Cederburg said.

The proposal approved Tuesday also will reshape the view for those who visit the sign.

Cederburg said the county still has 25 canary palm trees, each worth $8,000 to $10,000, that were removed from elsewhere on the Strip during median modifications. Those trees will be planted in the median just north of the welcome sign, where they figure to become some of the most photographed plants in the world.

Willis, who was born in Southern Nevada and spent 50 years designing neon signs, said a lot of thought went into the color, shape and style of the Strip's now famous welcome message.

"All we were trying to do was get Californians to come back and gamble," she said. "That sign did exactly what it was designed to do."

Asked why she thinks her design grew into such an icon, Willis chuckled and said, "Well, I'm good."