Project planning

Workshop attendees worry about fate of property on corridor

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Two more workshops of a series of four will allow residents and business representatives who work within a quarter-mile of North 5th Street to submit their suggestions to designers about improvements planned along that corridor.

But if the first workshop is any indicator, it seems planners have their work cut out for them as far as persuading residents of the project's worth.

The corridor, which follows North 5th Street from Owens Avenue north to Deer Springs Way, then east to Pecos Road and north again to the Interstate 215 beltway, is to be widened to 150 feet and designed as a super-arterial transportation avenue.

Efforts will be made to create a string of high-density, pedestrian-friendly cores along the corridor's axis.

Construction for the first portion, from Owens to Cheyenne avenues, is expected to begin in fall 2008 and take about two years to complete, according to designers. The schedule for the remainder of the $250 million project has not been set.

The first workshop, held April 26 at McCall Elementary School, focused on the southernmost section, the roughly 1-mile portion of North 5th Street running from Owens to Carey avenues.

The two-lane street is 50 feet wide in that area, but plans call for it to be expanded to 150 feet, with room for eight lanes of traffic, and that will likely result in municipal land takings to make way for the widening.

The plan, said Roger Patton, a senior vice president for the Louis Berger Group, which is designing the roadway, is for North 5th Street to meet Carey Avenue at an intersection with traffic signals, and then leap to the north with a bridge over Interstate 15, the Union Pacific tracks and Losee Road.

Patton stressed that the corridor as outlined on maps and aerial photos at the workshop was tentative.

"The North 5th Street project has not been defined," he said.

But the prospect of a wider road with more traffic and houses that will have to be removed did not seem to sit well with residents of the tightly knit community that will be most affected.

"Well," said Corrina Morgan, "it's not getting approved. I object."

She said the expansion will have an effect well outside the North 5th Street axis itself and would have an impact on residents along parallel roads, such as Harvard and Glider streets.

Morgan said the process, which allows residents to talk to the planners, is a good one, but she added that the end result will be bad for the neighborhood. "They're going to block you in and you'll never get out," she said.

She said her late grandfather Sam Porter built the first two houses in the area, at 2101 and 2107 N. 5th St., the latter of which dates back to the early 1960s. She said she was dismayed at what may happen to the community.

Her mother, Elaine Morgan, who lives at 2107 N. 5th St., said bluntly of the project: "It's got to be stopped."

Patton said he and the dozen planners from his firm who were on hand for the workshop need to hear from the neighbors in order to better understand the area and try to limit the impact of the project.

"We'll have cars -- more cars, obviously -- exclusive mass transit lanes ... and we hope ultimately to transform it into a light rail corridor," he said.

Nonetheless, the bottom line was clear: "We have to have another 100 feet to make that 150 feet of road ... Obviously, if we're going to widen out the roadway, properties are going to have to be acquired," Patton said.

He asked residents to help inform planners. "Where the alignment can be shifted, how can we make it better?" he asked.

He wondered aloud what safety issues there were, as well as if Martinez Elementary School, between I-15 and North 5th Street, will be affected.

"We need to hear how you live here," said Patton, "how you get to school, how you get to work, how you get to church, how you get to your grocery shopping."

To lessen traffic problems, he said, planners hope to limit left turns, even from driveways, possibly by turning some avenues into one-way streets.

"The fewer left-hand driveways we have, the better off we're going to be," he said.

Jewel Patterson, who lives in the affected neighborhood, said the project leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

"I feel like it stinks," she said. "I feel they're taking advantage of us and accommodating all the people in the northwest, and they don't care about us."

Maria Barajas, who resides near the corner of North 5th Street and Carey Avenue, said she was upset about the project. She said her mother is 80 and only one of many elderly residents who is likely to be affected, or even lose their homes, once construction begins.

"I think's it's a disgrace," Barajas said. "Nobody cares about old people any more. I want to sit and talk with them and let them know how I feel. We would like some honest answers."

Sam Brandon, a long-time resident of the neighborhood, said in the event of land takings, many clusters of families and long-time friends will be broken apart.

"It won't affect me," he said, but he added that the neighborhood will experience more traffic. "Why would you put all this traffic here? You've got two schools in this area. I don't know. It's all messed up."

Patton said safety for schoolchildren at Martinez Elementary, as well as Bridger Middle School across Carey Avenue, is the paramount question and is not being taken lightly.

Salvador Manig, who lives near the intersection of North 5th Street and Lillis Avenue, said he also is unhappy. "I don't feel too good about it -- a little angry. All these streets are very crowded with kids," he said, citing traffic safety issues that may arise.

Like Brandon, he said he worried that families and long-time neighbors may have their community shattered.

"It is going to disrupt all that," he said.

Even if market value prices are paid for the homes that are taken, he said, where will those who must move find new homes, and how much will their money buy?

Despite the concerns, Patton said the discussions at the workshop were polite and courteous.

"A number of them did recognize that this is progress," he said, "and as the city is strongly supporting it, they are not likely to stop it."

He said he hopes the effort will result in a southern gateway to North Las Vegas that will be attractive.

This effort, he said, could be a change, and that might carry over into the surrounding neighborhoods. The North Las Vegas City Council wants the corridor to be uplifting for the whole neighborhood, he said.

"Some roadway projects have a pretty industrial feel to them," he said.

The next workshop is set for 4 to 7 p.m. on May 16 at Canyon Springs High School, 350 E. Alexander Road. Discussion will cover the section from Cheyenne Avenue to Craig Road, City Manager Gregory Rose announced.

The last of the initial series of workshops is slated for 4 to 7 p.m. May 30, also at Canyon Springs High School. It will deal with the project from Craig Road to the beltway.

More workshops will be scheduled over the coming months. For more information about workshops, the project and construction schedules, call 260-3219, or e-mail questions to info@north5thstreet.com. Information also may be found at www.north5thstreet.com.

Patton said the planning process is going to take some time. He predicted the city council may not make a final decision on the actual alignment until early next year, and it could be another 18 months after that before work on the road begins.

"The decision on which properties to acquire will be made by the city council," he said. "The very first thing they've done is hold this workshop. We're just kicking it off."