Las Vegas: Poised for greatness

New roads in Las Vegas will cost money, and the public has to be sold on them before any new project gets going, a transportation expert told a crowd of business leaders today.

Michael Gallis, speaking to a breakfast meeting of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance at the Four Seasons hotel, said Las Vegas is well-positioned to compete in the global business marketplace. But it needs to better connect its core areas with more efficient transportation links, he said.

The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the Regional Transportation Authority and others have begun studying how to improve transportation in Las Vegas. Part of that outreach was at today’s breakfast, at which attendees were asked to fill out cards indicating their interest in serving on a committee related to economics, urbanization or transportation.

Gallis, the principal of his own planning firm, has been tapped to work with the various agencies to develop a framework for the project. He led the audience through a series of slides that discussed how Las Vegas could diversify its economy, take advantage of nearby super-hub Los Angeles and fix some of its transportation problems at the same time.

“We’ve got to compete,” he said. “Let me tell you something: It’s not going to happen in Washington. .. It’s going to happen in the streets. … This is the big opportunity moment for Las Vegas.”

But, he said, it will be vital to explain to the public the costs of transportation improvements in the valley, and show exactly how those improvements will lead to a more robust economy, jobs and future growth. “Economic activity depends on interactions. Infrastructure provides the opportunity for those interactions,” he said. “It’s a tool that we need to sell our community regionally, locally and globally.”

By expanding that infrastructure, developing projects including the expanded Global Business District, and capitalizing on the fact that so many business people already come to Las Vegas from around the country and the world, Las Vegas can capitalize on its advantages, Gallis said. “America needs an example of a community that succeeds,” he said. “Las Vegas needs to send a message: we’re back.”