Henderson plans to connect highway to Lake Las Vegas
The city of Henderson is proceeding with a plan to connect U.S. Highway 95 to Lake Las Vegas by extending Galleria Drive.
On May 21, the Henderson City Council authorized city staff to select a contractor and negotiate services for the project, which involves constructing Galleria Drive as a four-lane roadway from Pabco Road to Lake Las Vegas Parkway.
“It’s providing direct access to the freeway for all the neighborhoods along this route,” said Scott Jarvis, project engineer.
Those neighborhoods include Lake Las Vegas, Calico Ridge, Tuscany Hills, Weston Hills and the future Cadence development.
“A lot of these communities right now are tied to Lake Mead Parkway,” Jarvis said.
He said the new roadway, which will have two lanes in each direction, will give residents of those neighborhoods an alternative path. It also will give them a more direct route to the Galleria at Sunset mall and surrounding businesses.
The master plan calls for Galleria Drive to have three lanes in each direction.
Design of the project is currently underway and is being funded by The LandWell Company, which is developing Cadence.
Construction will be funded by a local improvement district, the Henderson Redevelopment Agency, the Regional Transportation Commission and The LandWell Company.
Rather than use the traditional system of public works construction known as “design-bid-build,” which requires the city to select the contractor based on the lowest bid it receives, this project will use a so-called “construction management at risk” system.
Under this system, the city chooses a contractor based primarily on qualifications and experience, and the contractor plays a key role in pre-construction and design activities. The city and the contractor enter an agreement, under which the project is constructed for a “guaranteed maximum price.”
Jarvis said the system “gets the contractor on as a partner in the design process.”
“You actually hire a contractor as part of the team up front,” he said.
Once a contractor is selected, the agreement must be approved by the City Council.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
