F Street Underpass Las Vegas

[andy3175]

The new F Street underpass opened to traffic on 12/11/14 with its historic Westside marquee and murals at a cost of  $13.6 million. Labeled as the most controversial roadway in the state of Nevada, F Street was partially closed in Sept 2008 due to I-15 freeway widening at the Spaghetti Bowl (US 95/I-515 interchange). This resulted in many neighbors becoming upset since the F Street closure prevented access between downtown and a historically black neighborhood, West Las Vegas.

http://www.jrn.com/ktnv/positively-lv/F-Street-reopening-in-West-Las-Vegas-285509821.html

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2014/dec/17/embracing-history-race-relations-f-street-vegas/#/0

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/contested-f-street-link-reopens-las-vegas-thursday

When it opens to traffic, F Street will have one lane of median-divided traffic between the D Street connector and McWilliams as well as new sidewalks, curbs and gutters, new lighting and landscaping north to Washington Avenue. The corridor is wide enough to easily accommodate vehicle traffic as well as pedestrians and bicycles. A new layer of asphalt provides a smooth surface for motorists.

The underpass also is decorated with a series of 12 interpretive murals depicting scenes of historic significance to the West Las Vegas neighborhood as well as two decorative 50-foot towers resembling the architecture of the historic Moulin Rouge.

"It's easily the most beautiful underpass NDOT has ever done,"  department spokesman Tony Illia said.

Much of that beauty is in the tiled murals that celebrate the contributions of civil rights and community leaders Martin Luther King Jr.; Lubertha Johnson; Charles Kellar; former state Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas; and Woodrow Wilson, the first African-American elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1966.

Panels also commemorate the city's first integrated casino, the Moulin Rouge, and famed Strip entertainers Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole, among others.

Horsford said the closure stung because it symbolically smacked of segregation at a time when the downtown Las Vegas environment was brightening with construction of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute and a new City Hall on the horizon.

West Las Vegas residents Ora Bland and Estella Jimerson and the local chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network sued in Clark County District Court seeking to shut down I-15's widening project until state officials agreed to reopen F Street.

Attorney Matthew Callister, representing Bland and Jimerson, called the F Street closure "the worst incident of race-based segregation"  he had seen in Las Vegas.

The lawsuit was filed as a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevents discrimination by government agencies. Had the plaintiffs prevailed, Las Vegas faced the penalty of losing federal funding for local projects.

[roadfro]

For those unfamiliar, the underpass in question is here: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1780261,-115.1490206,398m/data=!3m1!1e3


While it is a beautiful underpass and has great displays associated with it, I still think it was an incredible waste of money to reopen this street.

I recognize the sentimentality and the bad blood of the segregation issue in the past, but the engineer in me does not find that this was a necessary roadway. I still find the argument that the state "cut off access" to the neighborhood is baloney...there is another underpass approximately 600 feet away, which is a block over. The I-15 widening tied in City Pkwy on the south to D Street (a minor arterial) on the north--F Street itself is a residential roadway and shouldn't have cut-through traffic on it that is invited with the underpass. I think the money could have been better spent beautifying and revitalizing the D Street corridor.

[Alps]

For those unfamiliar, the underpass in question is here: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1780261,-115.1490206,398m/data=!3m1!1e3


While it is a beautiful underpass and has great displays associated with it, I still think it was an incredible waste of money to reopen this street.

I recognize the sentimentality and the bad blood of the segregation issue in the past, but the engineer in me does not find that this was a necessary roadway. I still find the argument that the state "cut off access" to the neighborhood is baloney...there is another underpass approximately 600 feet away, which is a block over. The I-15 widening tied in City Pkwy on the south to D Street (a minor arterial) on the north--F Street itself is a residential roadway and shouldn't have cut-through traffic on it that is invited with the underpass. I think the money could have been better spent beautifying and revitalizing the D Street corridor.

Or H Street just to the west. Seriously, I have to agree with you on this one. It's not anything about segregation. It's about cost. When you have two overpasses a few blocks apart, do you really NEED another one?
Elizabeth, NJ - a little excessive? NJ Turnpike had to keep all streets open as a concession to tearing down all the houses near the railroad.

[andy3175]

While it is a beautiful underpass and has great displays associated with it, I still think it was an incredible waste of money to reopen this street.

This article was the first I'd heard of the closure and new underpass. Next time I'm in Las Vegas, I will go check it out. And the "waste of money" you write of is tied to politics, and politics don't always make the best engineering sense.

[roadfro]

This article was the first I'd heard of the closure and new underpass. Next time I'm in Las Vegas, I will go check it out.

I'm actually a bit surprised you hadn't heard about this previously, Andy, with how frequently you post road-related articles. This was about six years ago though, with the I-15 north design-build widening project.

And the "waste of money" you write of is tied to politics, and politics don't always make the best engineering sense.

EDIT: didn't finish my thought with this quote... I completely agree, and this underpass decision was 100% political.

[andy3175]

This article was the first I'd heard of the closure and new underpass. Next time I'm in Las Vegas, I will go check it out.

I'm actually a bit surprised you hadn't heard about this previously, Andy, with how frequently you post road-related articles. This was about six years ago though, with the I-15 north design-build widening project.

There's so much going on in the road world that I've found little items like this harder to locate. But I am glad to have found it. Usually I'm better about finding the overall project level articles (I-15  and US 95 interchange), not the ones that deal with smaller work elements such as this (F Street).