By Mary Jane Belleza ▪
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Philip Alarid is an avid cyclist who lives in Summerlin and rides out to Red Rock Canyon frequently.
It is a great scenic view, but he said riding there comes with a risk.
“There’s a ton of traffic, and all it’s going to take is just one person looking at their phone for 5 seconds, and a rearview mirror to the side of your head doesn’t feel good,” Alarid explained.
That is why Alarid is hoping the Red Rock Legacy Trails project will get kicked off soon.
“I heard about it so many years ago and I have just been anticipating when construction’s going to start and I’m anticipating and anticipating and nothing’s happened yet though,” Alarid said.
Commissioner Justin Jones and Save Red Rock President Heather Fischer have been involved in the project. They said it’s been a long process. In the past years, there have been some bumps in the road to get funding and designs approved.
“The Red Rock Legacy Trail will really connect the west part of Summerlin all the way around to Red Rock Canyon and it’ll go all the way around to close to Mountains Edge. That will be a separated bike path, 12 plus feet,” Commissioner Jones explained. “There are five phases of this project that have currently been funded and we’re continuing to work to make sure any gaps in the project are funded appropriately.”
“It gets you right off the roadway,” he continued. “A lot of folks who run or bike or access that area are concerned obviously about cars and the real history of this proposal came from a gentleman who unfortunately was killed while riding his bike.”
Right now, there are no approved trails in the area from Summerlin to Red Rock’s scenic drive and cyclists ride along the path of SR 159.
“It’s been a long time since 2005 and we’ve been trying to get it done so to see it in the design phase and the public feedback phase is really exciting to us. We have a grant from the federal lands access program and that is for connecting communities with federal lands and that one is taking care of phase one and phase 5,” Fisher said. “Phase 2, 3 and 4 are through Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, so we were able to get the help of congressional support.”
Until the Red Rock Legacy Trail gets underway, Alarid has some advice for those sharing the road.
“A bike is no match for a car, so if everyone would be careful, that’s all I’m asking for,” added Alarid.
You can submit your comments on Phase 5 of the Red Rock Legacy Trails project and what you would like to see here, the deadline is Friday, March 29.
To learn more about Red Rock legacy trails, click here.
