Speak Out and Speak Up If You Want Local Government To Improve Bicycle Safety In Las Vegas

 

There are not too many lengthy paved trails around Las Vegas and Clark County but there is the 215 Beltway Trail, a ribbon of pavement that runs next to sections of the suburban highway that encircles the metro Las Vegas area.

A popular segment of the 215 Trail is in the western sprawling suburb of Summerlin, where the trail crosses busy Charleston Boulevard near the Red Rock hotel-casino. The problem is the trail crossing is neither a bridge nor a tunnel and crossing Charleston at grade is a dangerous endeavor because there are many motorists driving onto and off the 215 at ramps and turning right at red lights right into walkers and bicyclists who have the right-of-way to cross the road (after a lengthy wait).

I joined bicyclists Jen Hanks and Jared Fisher for a Channel 8 news report on this problem in December 2020. You can see the story here.  

That's why it's heartening to see construction of a 215 Trail tunnel going on now at Charleston. For a video look at the construction, click here.

Clark County is doing the work even though the city of Las Vegas is on the north side of Charleston. Kudos to Clark County Commission Justin Jones for spearheading this road safety project. Clark County Commission Chairman Michael Naft is also a strong proponent of safe roads for bicyclists and walkers. Sadly, the city of Las Vegas has no city council members championing this public safety issue and Mayor Shelley Berkley is a bit clueless on the topic.

Naturally, it's always best for trail crossings to be build safely when the trail is built. This tunnel (or bridges like the ones at the Town Center and Far Hills Ave. exits) should have been built as part of the trail when it opened. The crossings at Flamingo and Sahara are at grade and rather dangerous.

It will take a while for Clark County and the city of Las Vegas to catch up in the bicycle infrastructure category to other cities across the U.S. The national People For Bikes organization out of Colorado put Las Vegas at the 28th percentile of more than 3,000 cities when it comes to bike network resources. That's mighty sad and dismal.

Bicycling Las Vegas: Even Waiting At A Red Light In Summerlin 'burbs Can Be Costly

 

I was waiting on my bicycle in a bike lane on Alta Drive at a red light at the Durango intersection when I felt a rush of air on my right shoulder.

A driver in a Honda SUV making a right turn missed me by a matter of a few inches and nearly clipped me while making a right turn at the red light from Alta to Durango. I hate that drivers can make right turns on red lights. Most never come to a full stop -- like this moron who almost hit me.

The driver of a small convertible in the traffic lane to my left who was also stopped at the red light, saw the SUV nearly hit me, rolled down his front passenger window and uttered, "Unbelievable."

It was Saturday morning in Las Vegas and I had left my home across from the BLM Red Rock National Conservation lands near State Route 160 at 5:15 AM to bike at a time when there would be limited car drivers on the road.

I figured a Saturday morning in my-July in the Las Vegas area would be a safer time to bike because I figured there would be less car traffic.

It's a 50-mile route that I have named, "The Big Rectangle," because I bike east to the Strip, turn left and head to the Las Vegas downtown, make a another left on Alta Drive to head west to Summerlin and then bike on State Route 159 through Red Rock Canyon to my home near SR 160.

But this is Las Vegas. So many people drive recklessly around here -- like the guy driving this Honda SUV.

During my Big Rectangle ride, I biked the Strip around 6:30 AM and it was all quiet.

Funny how biking the Strip was uneventful at 6:30 while waiting at a red light at the Alta-Durango intersection in a bike lane nearly ended with a car driver hitting me.

Along the Strip I stopped at the A's stadium construction site at the Reno Ave. side street.

The A's are building a $2 billion domed MLB stadium where the Tropicana hotel-casino used to stand. The owner of the former Tropicana, Bally's Corporation, said it wants to build a hotel tower, entertainment and restaurants around the A's stadium but nothing outside the ballpark is currently being built.

 

It did not take long to bike north on the Strip to downtown Vegas.

I take a lane and wave the few car drivers on the Strip around me, pointing to the open traffic lane on my left.

When I reach downtown, I turn left on Alta and start biking west and slowly climbing back to Summerlin. I then take the 215 trail for a mile to Charleston Blvd. and continue west on State Route 159 through Red Rock Canyon.

I hop on the .99 of a mile trail that runs along SR 159 at the new Sky Vista traffic light. The .99 of a mile trail is phase one of a Red Rock Legacy trail that supposedly is being built through the entire Red Rock canyon corridor along SR 159. It's depressing to bike on this lovely paved trail for .99 of a mile and then see it end at the hill. The trail is to be continued one day. Clark County says construction will restart in 2027.

Click here  for my video of this trail.

I stopped at the Red Rock visitors center where the volunteers inside at the info desk are way tired of my comments about bicycling along SR 159. They've heard me too many times -- the speeders, the lack of any Nevada state trooper patrols and the crotch rocket guys illegally passing cars at their 80-100 mph speeds.

Maybe one day that .99 of a mile trail will extend to the Red Rock drive entrance, the loop exit and eventually State Route 160. 

I just don't know whether I will live to see a finished Red Rock trail but the trail extension is in the plans.

Bicyclists Who Devoted Their Lives To Making Streets Safer Killed While Bicycling in Chicago In June, In Boston Today

 

They loved bicycling and lived bicycle lives.

Their names are Riley O'Neil, who worked on bicycle safety issues for the City of Chicago's Department of Transportation, and Louisa Gag, a Boston Transportation Department planner who worked on road planning designed to stop car drivers from striking bicyclists and pedestrians.

Both were killed while bicycling in their home towns where they tried to make roads safer for bicyclists.    

On June 5, the 35-year-old O'Neil was killed while bicycling in the Chicago area where he was doored by a motorist and then mortally wounded by a truck driver who struck O'Neil in the road.  

Today July 9, more tragic news struck when the 36-year-old Gag was killed while bicycling in the Boston area at 8:19 AM.  

These bicyclist deaths are brutally heartbreaking and upsetting to hear. These were people trying to make a difference in making roads safer for bicyclists.

Also last month, University of California at Irvine climate and earth science professor Francois Primeau, 60, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Santa Ana in Orange County, California June 19.

It saddens me to know these bicyclists were killed while living lives devoted to making our roads and planet a better place.

Could Not Find Bike Racks At Bellagio, So Railing In Parking Garage Will Have To Do

 

Reaching the Bellagio by bicycle is hardly a cakewalk because it calls for biking o the Strip and turning into the Bellagio and then biking on a narrow road to the self park parking garage.

As usual with the hotels on the Strip, I could not find a bicycle rack so I locked up the bike on out-of-sight railing on the first level that connects to the casino floor level.

I was at the Bellagio to visit with a good South Florida friend who is in the sports business industry and participating in the SEICON III event on sports entertainment innovation this week.

Naturally, I popped in to the conservatory.

Looks like the Bellagio is a fan of the A's, which uses the elephant as a part of its branding.