EDITORIAL: Traffic solutions

For everyone in Southern Nevada who gripes about the horrible gridlock within the resort corridor and along Maryland Parkway (in other words, everyone who drives within the resort corridor and along Maryland Parkway), now’s your chance to contribute to plans that could make getting around much easier.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has initiated a “Transportation Business Investment Plan,” led by Charlotte, N.C.-based Michael Gallis &Associates. The group is aiming to produce a workable plan for improving mobility — and economic activity — in the valley’s commercial core.

“This is a business plan, a business plan for Las Vegas, for infrastructure and the economy,” Mr. Gallis said at a May 14 breakfast meeting of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.

“It involves looking at transportation infrastructure, but it’s not limited to transportation infrastructure.”

As reported by the Review-Journal’s Richard Velotta, Mr. Gallis issued a plea to the business community to provide input on how to move forward. An email address — tbp@rtcsnv.com — is available for those ideas.

Southern Nevada is fortunate to have its largest hotels, its biggest convention centers and its airport in such close proximity to one another. But moving tens of thousands of people between those destinations — and getting workers to and from their jobs — is done largely through cars, taxicabs and buses, and traffic congestion is so bad at times that it can take 45 minutes to travel just a few miles.

Mass transit could be both efficient and cost effective in such a densely populated area with heavy, constant movement. But it has to be done right. And the Las Vegas Monorail wasn’t done right. Meanwhile, the RTC’s Strip bus line is so popular and profitable that it subsidizes many other routes.

So should the monorail expand, or should dedicated bus and taxi lanes be created? And how should we pay for such improvements? Email the RTC so Mr. Gallis can include your ideas in his analysis. Alleviating congestion is vital to the valley’s economic growth, especially as more hotels are built and the Las Vegas Convention Center is renovated.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the RTC will hold its first community meeting on improvements to the Maryland Parkway corridor, which serves thousands of apartment residents, UNLV, the Boulevard Mall, Sunrise Hospital Medical Center and other businesses. The meeting will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the mall’s Center Court, in front of J.C. Penney.

Don’t just stew in traffic. Be part of the solution.