By Alan Halaly | Las Vegas Review-Journal
Selfies at the Red Rock Canyon sign will look a little different from now on.
On Tuesday, Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones, the Nevada Department of Transportation and local contractors celebrated the successful relocation of the sign off the main drag of Charleston Boulevard.
Instead of requiring a risky stopover on the side of the street to get the photo, the sign’s new location has its own paved parking lot, equipped with about a dozen parking spots and a lane for buses.
Matt and Kathleen Dwyer of Long Beach, New York, were the first to take their picture in front of the sign at its new home on Tuesday. Though it was his first time visiting Red Rock Canyon, Matt Dwyer said the new parking lot sounded a lot safer.
“I told my wife, ‘There’s people there. Let’s go in and just take a picture,’” he said. “And this is just beautiful.”
Red Rock Legacy Trail coming in phases
The updated safety measure for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a part of phase one of the Red Rock Legacy Trail — a project that will create a safer byway along Charleston Boulevard for both cyclists and pedestrians.
A cycling accident killed off-duty Metropolitan Police Department officer Don Albietz in 2005 as he was training for a triathlon. Jones, the county commissioner, said the roads in and around the conservation area are notoriously dangerous, causing several crashes that he’s aware of.
“The location before was unsafe,” Jones said. “It was right off the road, in the dirt, and people would flip U-turns when they tried to get back on the road, causing accidents.”
Once complete, the project will have added roughly 19 miles of trails between Summerlin and the Hualapai Trailhead parking lot off state Route 160.
Phase one includes about a mile of that trail, the sign relocation, a bridge over Red Rock Wash and so-called deceleration lanes for slower entrances at Calico Basin, the Red Rock Scenic Loop and the sign area. The first phase is on track to be completed in June, Jones said.
“The bridge is already being poured, and our contractors are doing a great job,” Jones said. “We hope people can get out there and enjoy the trail.”
