Twenty-one bicyclists pedaled past a commemorative banner marking the inauguration of a portion of a new trail that will run through Red Rock National Conservation Area.
On Tuesday morning, the riders got a brief taste of what will eventually become the 19-mile Red Rock Legacy Trail. Clark County officials marked the completion of the path’s first mile, which includes a bridge that goes over a wash.
“We just rode it, and we can tell you, it is so smooth and so safe,” said Susan Feinberg after the short ride. “We’re grateful.”
County Commissioner Justin Jones told reporters that the entire project should be completed within the next three years. It will connect the conservation area from Summerlin’s edge to Blue Diamond Road, according to the county.
“We know that people want to be able to access Red Rock Canyon, but right now, it’s just really difficult,” Jones told reporters.
The trail, Jones added, “is going to give people options to ride their bike, they can push a stroller, they can go for a jog, and they can access the beautiful area of Red Rock Canyon safely.”
Outside unexpected costs, Jones said the entire project — a partnership between the county, the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Transportation — is expected to total about $100 million.
All of its funding already has been earmarked through grants and county dollars, Jones noted.
Safe riding for 19 miles
The 12-foot-wide, multipurpose path will keep riders off traffic lanes of state Route 159, which runs through the conservation area. Workers are building the trail in five phases.
“It’s just nice to have our own bike path rather than trying to share it with high-speed traffic,” Barry Feinberg said. “So it makes a big difference in terms of safety and comfort for us, where we ride this frequently.”
He and his wife, Susan, are in a bike club out of Sun City Summerlin that rides three times a week, twice on the path where the trail is being built.
Fellow club member Jackie Cupp complimented the new overpass, describing the trail and its views as fantastic.
The morning ceremony kicked off with remarks from a new adjacent parking lot at Charleston Boulevard and Sky Vista Drive. The project’s first phase also included moving the prominent Red Rock Canyon visitor sign onto a lot where people can safely take photos.
Two decades in the making
Conservation group Save Red Rock has lobbied the county for the trail for about 21 years, after the hit-and-run death of off-duty Metropolitan Police Department officer Don Albietz, a cyclist who was hit on the road.
“His loss shook our entire community, and his life changed us,” Save Red Rock President Heather Fisher said.
“He was an Ironman triathlete, and he was training for his next race,” Fisher said. “The problem was there was no bike lane back then. They didn’t even have this shoulder.”
The organization raised the project’s first $12 million.
The trail will also honor others who died under similar circumstances, she said.
“We’re so grateful that now we have something concrete to show for it, and when it came time to name it, we knew it had to be the Red Rock Legacy Trail,” Fisher said. “Because this is more than our past. It is more than a path forward. It is both bridged with honor and purpose. It is what we remember. It is who we carry with us. It is how we keep going, and it didn’t happen alone.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
