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MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING
Tuesday, August 29 | 4pm-7pm (presentation at 5:30pm)
East Las Vegas Community Center | 250 N. Eastern Ave
~ Virtual meeting will be available for 30 days ~
Community Conversation Recap
A huge thank you to the nearly 150 community members who took the time to participate in our community conversations from August 2022 through January 2023. Topics of discussion included: purpose and need, concerns/challenges living near the freeway, types of freeways, providing access, community enhancements, and the Maryland Parkway HOV (2+ people) interchange.
Overall, we learned the community agrees this section of freeway needs to be reconstructed. There was great community input about types of freeways and how it should be reconstructed. While there was no unanimous consensus on a preferred type of freeway, there were many who voiced opinion to have the new freeway elevated on dirt while still providing access at as many cross-streets as possible. There was also an idea to have a portion of freeway on a bridge spanning a block or two in order to do something unique under the bridge that would benefit the area. We have a better understanding of the community’s concerns, including the unhoused population, personal safety, pollution (noise/air), traffic, and property acquisitions, which will help our engineers design a freeway that can be reconstructed in a way that will be neighborly toward the community.
When we asked for feedback on the project’s purpose and need statement, “To repair, restore, and renew the freeway corridor and make a safer, healthier and sustainable transportation system,” participants shared ideas on additional words or phrases that will help our professionals revise this statement, so it is owned by the community.
The discussion of community enhancements included a strong focus on adding potential features that will benefit the community. Types of preferred enhancements included trees, parks, skate park, dog park, basketball courts, 24-hour market, community garden, public art, art representing historical areas, lighting under the bridge, music, parking lot for residents, food truck vendors, street lighting, and wider sidewalks. As our engineers move forward, they will focus on usability versus dead zones and provide opportunities for some of these proposed enhancements to be added to the neighborhood.
For the proposed HOV interchange at Maryland Parkway, the majority opinion (of these community members) does not support building this interchange. While they felt it may reduce congestion at Las Vegas Blvd and Casino Center Blvd, it would create more traffic on Maryland Parkway, and it is not worth the additional households impacted.
Check out our thank you message in English and Spanish on our social pages!
Survey of Unhoused Residents
We know many members of the community are concerned about where the unhoused will go if there is not a 1.6-mile bridge through downtown, like we have today. NDOT partnered with the City of Las Vegas to have their Multi-agency Outreach Resource Engagement (MORE) team conduct surveys with unhoused residents in the DAP project corridor. They surveyed 76 people. These are long-term residents with an average duration of 21 months in the area. They choose to stay here because they feel safe, it is convenient, and close to services. When asked where they would go if the current location was not available, many indicated they would go somewhere nearby due to the proximity to services. They would like to see more housing services available. As part of the mitigation measures being developed to offset the project impacts, NDOT plans to provide funding to the City of Las Vegas for additional resources, such as shelter, and funding to construct replacement housing as part of the redevelopment of the Desert Pines golf course, which includes low-income HUD housing units.
What’s Next?
Our design team is taking the community input and working towards three new design alternatives along with potential modifications to the three alternatives we previously shared. For everyone who participated in the community conversations, we will follow-up in a few months to share what we’ve developed. For everyone else, we will share the design alternatives at our public information meeting this summer.
Our environmental team will be analyzing the impacts of these new design alternatives, including impacts on air, noise, water, and the community. More details on the environmental process can be found on our environmental page.
Project Office at East Las Vegas Community Center
To continue to be inclusive and accessible to our community, last year we opened a project office at the East Las Vegas Community Center. You can always stop by and leave a comment card or speak to one of our team representatives.
Community Events
Our team enjoyed meeting members of the community at the City of Las Vegas Cesar Chavez Day Festival in March. Follow us on social media to see where we’ll be next!
Follow us on Social Media
Based on feedback received during the community conversations, we are launching several education campaigns on our social media channels. Follow us to learn more about the environmental process and right-of-way acquisition.
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Telephone: 775-888-7000 |
