Work has started on the $41-million, 15-mi ACE Green Line, a new commuter transit line connecting Henderson, Nev., with downtown Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Paving Corp. broke ground in March on the line that extends Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s transit service between Tropicana Avenue and Horizon Drive along Boulder Highway. The project is 54% funded by federal stimulus monies through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is the developer.
The Green Line is scheduled to finish in September 2011.
“This project will create 600 new jobs,” says Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. “It’s going to be an important way of transporting people between Henderson and Las Vegas and aiding in the economic recovery.”
The transit system uses 62-ft-long, hybrid, electric-diesel-powered buses manufactured by Northern Ireland-based The Wright Group. The 33-ton StreetCar RTV model vehicles feature an articulating chassis and a 104-passenger capacity. Buses have the look and feel of a light-rail system but travel along normal streets.
Las Vegas Paving will create new dedicated travel lanes in each direction along the six-lane Boulder Highway specifically for the Green Line. It is performing asphalt center-lane paving along the 50- to 60-ft-wide dirt median. The roadway will then be restriped, shifting vehicle traffic inward and creating two new outside ACE rapid-transit lanes.
“The project will require 4 million sq ft of open-grade paving, with 35,000 cu yds of aggregate base,” says Jim Witt, Las Vegas Paving project manager. “There also are 4,500 cu yds of concrete.”
Las Vegas Paving—while installing 13 new traffic signals and 90,000 ft of fiber optics—will keep two travel lanes open in each direction.
Las Vegas Electric Inc. is the electric contractor.
About 15,000 ft of storm drainage will be installed, including a combination of 5- by 3-ft precast box culvert and reinforced concrete pipe. Las Vegas Paving is self-performing the underground work.
The Green Line will offer 23 open-air stations measuring 60 ft long, each with 12-ft-tall, double-helix-shaped, steel shade canopies; metal seats; and ticket and vending machines. Seattle-based IBI Group is the architect.
Buses will stop atop 270-ft-long by 12-ft-wide concrete aprons next to 11-in.-high concrete passenger platforms for edge-to-edge entering and exiting. Tickets run about $7 for a 24-hour pass.
“Stations will feature cameras and LCD panels, as well as perforated metal shades, spaced about a mile or so to apart,” says IBI Group associate Phil Klinkon. “And there are green screens made of native plants for stations located in Henderson as per a city green development mandate.”
The route features drought-tolerant landscaping with regional bushes, boulders and trees, plus new curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
The Green Line will connect with ACE’s newly opened Gold and C Lines linking downtown Las Vegas with...
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