by Ryan Tisminezky
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Cyclists celebrated the opening of the first phase of the Red Rock Legacy Trail on Tuesday.
The paved one-mile out-and-back trail, located along westbound Charleston after Sky Vista Dr., paves the way for the next four phases that will stretch from Summerlin to Blue Diamond Road.
The trail is the result of more than 20 years of work from members of the nonprofit Save Red Rock.
“Now we can access it safely without driving a car and without getting crashed by a car,” Heather Fisher, president of Save Red Rock, said. “I’m so excited about that.”
While it’s only a mile, cyclists, developers, and officials like Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones said it’s cause to celebrate. After years of planning and securing funding, phase one shows that the trail can be completed.
“It is the impetus for everything. This is the most difficult phase,” Jones said. “We had to get across a bridge here, build a bridge, and now the rest of it is already in the design phase.”
Jones said the full trail should be completed in two to three years, which cyclists like Robert Samano hope will be true.
“We hope that it’s completed in a timely manner so that we can all be able to enjoy it. This is our backyard for a lot of us that live here in Summerlin,” Samano, director of Las Vegas Adobo Velo, said. “So it’s something that we look forward to utilizing every time that we’re out here.”
