RTC seeking public input on Boulder Highway project

Image

Steve Marcus

A view of traffic on Boulder Highway Thursday, March 2, 2017.

Wed, Dec 26, 2018 (2 a.m.)

Once a main valley express road serving as the primary route from Boulder City to Las Vegas, the 16-mile Boulder Highway is now most often associated with prostitution, crime and pedestrian crashes.

The Regional Transportation Commission wants to change that.

A highway-long redevelopment project that began 18 months ago promises to modernize how the highway is used, said Craig Raborn, the RTC’s director of metropolitan planning.

The project, titled Reimagine Boulder Highway, started with open houses as well as closed-door meetings with property owners along Boulder Highway to develop ideas for improvements. Splitting the 16-mile highway into six sectors, the RTC hopes to divide the highway into a section for high-speed drivers traveling through the area and another space for slower-paced motorists, bus riders and bicyclists.

Raborn said of the average 10,000 vehicles that use the Boulder Highway each day, more than half travel less than two miles on the highway as part of their commute. That’s a significant difference from decades ago, when most from southern areas of the valley used Boulder Highway nearly in its entirety as a primary route.

“It’s used for a really different purpose than a long-travel corridor,” Raborn explained. “And that means there are different ways we need to accommodate vehicles now.”

The RTC is partnering with the Nevada Department of Transportation on the project.

NDOT spokesman Jamie Bichelman said the department has started construction to add flashing pedestrian crossing signs and additional lighting to eight pedestrian crossings across Boulder Highway.

RTC spokeswoman Sue Christiansen said locals have played a large role in influencing the current renderings and will also be relied on for direction in the project’s near future. Over 1,700 online surveys were submitted during a two-month period in January and February, asking about most-needed Boulder Highway improvements, she said. An additional 600 have been submitted through the first three weeks of the most recent survey on the project, available at the Reimagine Boulder Highway website. The RTC hopes for at least 1,400 more survey responses by the end of January.

Budgeting for the new project will “vary greatly” depending on survey responses and which changes the transportation commission ultimately decides to implement, Raborn said. He declined to provide a financial estimate. Construction could begin as soon as 2020, Raborn said. RTC has not yet identified a funding source for the proposed Boulder Highway development.

Back to top

SHARE