Loop Trail system one step closer

Clark County files essential funding paperwork

Advertisement

By FRED COUZENS

VIEW STAFF WRITER

After being approved nearly 10 years ago and then being followed by a series of bureaucratic snarls, Segment 5 of the River Mountain Loop Trail system from Railroad Pass to near the Nevada State Veterans Home is about to be built, but some delays are still expected.

In addition, Clark County last week approved filing paperwork with the Bureau of Land Management to obtain $1.54 million in pre-approved funds from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act account to build Segments 3 and 4 from U.S. Highway 93 and Katzenbach Drive to the connection with Segment 5.

When completed, construction of the three segments will provide total access through Boulder City's portion of the 35-mile trail system around the River Mountains for hikers, bikers, skaters and walkers.

The latest trail development issues surfaced when the City Council approved a two-year extension for completing the 2.2-mile segment -- the fifth of 22 total segments -- at its Sept. 12 meeting because a previous extension was set to expire in 18 days and the city was still awaiting answers to its design questions from state officials.

"In July, we responded to comments from the State Transportation Board," said City Engineer Jim Keane, who added there's more than one state agency involved in this segment. "The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) wants a crossing arm and warning lights where the trail crosses the railroad tracks, but right now we don't think a crossing like that is necessary. We drew up sight distances to show that you don't need those things when a train moves slowly and the people crossing the track have plenty of time to react. Another question raised by the railroad people is does (the PUC) want to maintain a bicycle crossing? We're still waiting for their letter."

According to state law, the PUC is the regulatory agency that governs and controls crossings at railroad tracks while transportation officials have jurisdiction over all other right of way issues.

In the meantime, Segment 6 through Henderson, which opened in October 2005, did not install a crossing arm and warning lights where its portion of the trail crosses the Nevada Southern Railway tracks about 400 feet north of the Railroad Pass Casino, which raises the question of why Henderson was not required to install the same safety measures.

"I'm not sure because they had to go to the PUC to get approved too," said city engineering technician Gary Zupanic who's in charge of designing and engineering city projects. "I guess Henderson got away without having to put them in."

Compounding the delays have been negotiations over Nevada Department of Transportation requests for the city to reconstruct and rebuild three drainage pipes and culverts that are on state right of way that will be crossed by the paved trail.

Construction of Segment 5 has proven to be a challenge for the city since it involves not only local government officials, but also the Nevada Department of Transportation and its various divisions; the PUC; the state Department of Cultural Affairs and its state railroad system; and Nevada Power Co. and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, both of which have electrical and water easements across the trail segment.

Different right of way and access issues affect different agencies requiring responses and clarifications, which is why the start of construction has dragged on despite Segment 5 being awarded $350, 800 in Federal Highway Administration funding back in 1999 followed shortly after by the city being awarded $496,000 from the same federal agency.

The action taken by the county commission last week allows county officials to file a task order with the BLM, which will serve as a contract giving authority for the county to be reimbursed $1.54 million for construction of Segments 3 and 4.

The task order, which is expected to take three to four months to execute, will be followed by an interlocal agreement between the county and Boulder City since the city is responsible for design, engineering and construction of the trail segments.

Of the $1.54 million, $980,000 is budgeted for actual construction of the 10-foot-wide, 2.3-mile-long trail with another $420,000 for architectural and engineering fees and site work. The $140,000 balance is for contingencies.

While funding and construction appear imminent for Segments 3 and 4, the actual completion could still be years off.

According to the task order, the design phase is scheduled to end September 2008, the construction phase is planned to run from Jan. 1, 2009 to July 1, 2011 with completion, close out and access to the public not due until Jan. 1, 2012.

Over the years, Segment 5 has undergone a different fate, one of escalating costs.

When originally planned in 1999, the project cost was estimated at $486,800, with 5 percent of that cost, or $24,340, coming from the city.

One year later, according to a city Public Works Department capital improvement budget description, the estimated cost had risen to $650,000, with the city contributing $300,000 because "the proposed alignment has been significantly altered by construction of Cascata Drive."

Then, according to the last extension with Nevada Department of Transportation in 2005, the cost of Segment 5 had jumped to $769,121 -- 58 percent higher than originally planned -- with the state picking up $730,665 and the city the rest.

The city's 5 percent contribution is on top of what it has allowed for building the pedestrian trail bridge over Cascata Drive, the cost of which is nearly $380,000.

The pedestrian bridge, to be located 150 feet north of the railroad trestle that now crosses Cascata Drive, was required because Federal Railway Administration regulations prohibit pedestrian or other forms of nonmotorized transportation on the trackage or within the trackage area of the bridge structure.

Because of the lingering design questions, bid documents have not been prepared yet and actual bidding on the project is still many months away, according to Zupanic.

"If we're lucky, we'll go out to bid sometime next year," he said of the Segment 5 project. "I'd like to see things hustled up a bit. This has been going on so long there may not be enough money to do it and that means we'd have to go back to the SNPLMA people again and ask for more money."