Sheep Mountain Parkway

[Joseph R P]

I saw that this project was mentioned a handful of times in the past, but no thread for it exists, so I decided to start one for it.

I grew up and lived in Las Vegas for about half my life before moving back to my home state of Virginia, but since then I've always been invested in what's going on there. So, a few days ago I was exploring the recently-updated Google Maps imagery of Las Vegas to see what has changed. I came across a new road paved in the Sheep Mountain Parkway right-of-way, between Iron Mountain Road and Grand Teton Drive, west of Shaumber Road: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3137943,-115.3320489,2021m/data=!3m1!1e3

I looked at it on OpenStreetMap to see anything else about it since it was uncharted on Google Maps, and it's named 'Sheep Mountain Parkway' on there: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/36.3132/-115.3310 (the case may be that this is just a speculative name and the road could possibly be called something else, but it's likely Sheep Mountain Parkway)

Something else that caught my eye was how the housing developments were shaped around the right-of-way south of the current road segment, shaped in a way that makes it look like space for future interchanges or overpasses at Grand Teton Drive, Dorrell Lane, and Centennial Parkway. The reason I am surprised by this is because I had thought the project was cancelled due to Tule Springs Fossil Beds NM being formed in the proposed right-of-way, but perhaps there will be a new roadway to bypass the busy US 95/CC 215 junction to the east, or possibly carry I-11 if the beltway route option is chosen.

There's a chance that this will become a regular 45 MPH thoroughfare, but if it will become a freeway, I'm assuming it will start out as an incomplete expressway with signalized intersections like CC 215 was in its early days, just to give it some time to receive more funding and more of a reason for it to be built due to further development or if I-11 has to come through.

The weird thing about this is that I cannot find any documents detailing this project since 2017, aside from I-11 proposals. I've seen some mentions of it on sites looking for community input since then, but the most recent official Skye Canyon masterplan document with Sheep Mountain Parkway I could find was this one, which shows a quite precise depiction of the planned design of the road: https://files.lasvegasnevada.gov/planning/Skye-Canyon-Exhibit-E-to-L.pdf

These documents are from around when Skye Canyon broke ground, so chances are Sheep Mountain Parkway will be built as a freeway after all. However, I do have my skepticisms about whether I believe this new freeway will be constructed or not. Here are some reasons why:

- The only space for an interchange with US 95 is north of NV 157/Kyle Canyon Road, which would be within the Las Vegas Paiute reservation. This doesn't cut out a freeway-to-freeway interchange within the land, but it's usually more difficult to obtain land from native reservations.

- The only space for an interchange with CC 215 is at the Ann Road interchange. I'm sure somehow a pair of SB SMP to SB 215 and NB 215 to NB SMP ramps can be constructed around the existing interchange, perhaps with a pair of ramps connecting to Shaumber Road that would help give access to Shaumber, Centennial, or Ann as well as to and from the other directions of the parkway and beltway, but that's quite a large project for what this road is unless it's used to carry the Interstate in the future.

- There's not a whole lot of coverage, and overall it's just a mysterious project. It was never publicly confirmed about its green light or cancellation. I'm thinking that by the time the US 95/CC 215 interchange is done with, there should be some more available information about it.

What do you guys think will happen, and have you heard anything about it since Skye Canyon began construction?

[Alps]

It looks like this is gonna parallel 215 to the north, starting around Ann Road and looping above it. Why do I see sources saying this is gonna be I-11? Maybe I-211 someday.

[sprjus4]

It looks like this is gonna parallel 215 to the north, starting around Ann Road and looping above it. Why do I see sources saying this is gonna be I-11? Maybe I-211 someday.

An alignment following the western part of the 215 loop, including a new connector to US-95 following the same alignment of Sheep Mountain Pkwy, was an alternative for routing I-11 through the Las Vegas metro, however they ultimately decided to simply following the existing US-95 freeway through downtown.

[Joseph R P]

It looks like this is gonna parallel 215 to the north, starting around Ann Road and looping above it. Why do I see sources saying this is gonna be I-11? Maybe I-211 someday.

An alignment following the western part of the 215 loop, including a new connector to US-95 following the same alignment of Sheep Mountain Pkwy, was an alternative for routing I-11 through the Las Vegas metro, however they ultimately decided to simply following the existing US-95 freeway through downtown.

Huh, I didn't know that they finally chose a route through Las Vegas until now. I wonder if this will eliminate some of the need for Sheep Mountain Parkway and if it will eat up I 515.

[sprjus4]

^ See https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31684.0

[NE2]

As of 2018, when the ROW was transferred, it was still named Sheep Mountain Parkway.

[roadfro]

Aside from the western corridor proposal for I-11, I haven't heard much about the Sheep Mountain Pkwy proposal in recent years. Seeing all these documents is incredibly interesting.

Given that NDOT is now leaning toward using the US 95/central corridor for I-11, I don't really see this coming to fruition as a freeway. They'll probably retain the ROW set aside and use it as a arterial roadway.