Hellacious Harmon mess rooted in ’90s politics

Go ahead, whine.

I’ll guarantee you this: No matter how loud the whining gets, it will never have the force of Steve Wynn’s tantrums back in the mid-1990s.

What does a casino mogul have to do with the Strip corridor cluster-mess that for months has inconvenienced commuters, tourists, cabdrivers and casino operators? This may come as a surprise if you’ve lived here less than a week, but it’s about the influence gaming has over politicians.

But before we delve into the dark side of politics, let’s note the bright side of the Harmon Avenue realignment. By early next year, the project will be complete and guide motorists on a smooth journey from the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard to Polaris Avenue. Ultimately, it will reach Valley View Boulevard.

But here’s the deal. The extension of Harmon, an important east-west arterial, could, and some might argue should, have been finished long before the behemoth CityCenter project was set to open. It could have been completed before Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenues were torn up for NV Energy. Before the Water Reclamation District tore up the Harmon and Koval Lane intersection.

Harken back a decade or so, and it’s understandable why the Strip and torn-up roadways leading to our world famous casinos might consider adopting their own theme name, “Cone-y Island.”

In the 1990s, the county owned the rights-of-way on the land on the west side of the Strip and planned to bring Harmon straight across Las Vegas Boulevard and continue west. But Wynn was none too happy; the roadway would have split a 160-acre parcel where he planned to build, in his words, “the single-most extravagant hotel ever built on Earth.”

That hotel is Bellagio, which is puny compared to the CityCenter compound that occupies the other portion of the large Strip-front property then owned by Wynn. The land was once home to the Dunes and its accompanying golf course.

When Wynn was planning Bellagio, he was the King in Las Vegas. Not the King who can belt out, “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog,” but a King who might strongly insinuate to commissioners, “You ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of pushovers I throw boatloads of money at.” His approach was effective.

“He convinced the commission that we didn’t really need the Harmon project,” former Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, the sole vote against Wynn’s wishes, recently said.

The commission gave the swath designated for Harmon to Wynn and went to work on various designs to realign Harmon. In the end, they settled on a roadway that jogs north on Las Vegas Boulevard, swoops west around City Center and reconnects with the original alignment.

About five years ago — and a decade after the commission’s decision — crews prepared the extension, even constructing the Harmon bridge over Interstate 15.

“Things were going pretty well and along comes CityCenter,” Woodbury said.

Why tear up a major arterial leading to the Strip during a monstrous construction project at the same location?

As the county finally started tearing up Harmon, NV Energy began ripping apart a nearly 2-mile stretch of Tropicana to install a new utility corridor in preparation for McCarran’s new Terminal 3. Flamingo was torn apart too while the power company began placing underground power lines between Koval Lane and I-15.

But wait, there’s more. Adding to the traffic nightmare is the Clark County Water Reclamation District’s sewer line project on Koval and Harmon near the UNLV campus, where lanes have been closed during various stages of the job.

Les Henley, deputy director of the county’s Public Works Department, knows what’s floating through readers’ minds at this point.

“People won’t believe, this, but there is quite a bit of coordination” between utilities and government entities, Henley said.

Unfortunately, those efforts don’t always pan out.

“Which project would you want to delay? The Harmon realignment right before CityCenter opens or the new terminal at the airport?” Henley asked. “The answer is neither, which is why we’re out there tearing roads up for both.”

It’s not that this mess wasn’t predictable. In 1995, county officials feared massive traffic jams, and Woodbury envisioned frenzied motorists desperately searching for construction-free roads, sort of like crazed ants after their hill was destroyed.

“I think we are going to regret the day we did not require the dedication of Harmon and put it through,” Woodbury said at the time.

Wynn, who saved about $3 million by quashing the Harmon extension and earned tons more after the sale of the land, had a different opinion.

“To cut that property in half would have been the dumbest thing in the world,” he said during negotiations.

And, some may wonder, having half the roads closed at the core of the valley, smack dab in the middle of a tourist corridor, isn’t dumb?

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail her at roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com or apacker@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number.