Snapshot
Project name: City of Las Vegas GreenNVision: Stewart Avenue Complete Streets
Program: Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity
Law: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Recipient: City of Las Vegas
Investment amount: $23,900,000
City: Las Vegas
State: Nevada
Congressional districts: 1, 4, and 3
Construction start date: 2025
Jobs created: TBD
This profile is part of a project that finds and tracks the public and private sector investments generated or supported by three of the Biden administration’s economic laws. These laws make investments in the American people, helping to grow the middle class, lowering the cost of living, and setting up America to better compete and cooperate in the world. Pulling directly from several sources, this catalog provides users with publicly available information such as the number of jobs created, workforce training partnerships, and storytellers benefiting from particular projects, among other detailed information. The profile below expands on the economic, practical, and climate impacts of just one of the 35,000 investments that can be found in the Biden Administration Investment Tracker.
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The city of Las Vegas is the recipient of $23,900,000 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to aid in the reconstruction and improvement of Stewart Avenue. The grant, which is part of the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity discretionary grant program, will specifically widen the sidewalk to make it more Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible, add more streetlights, install a two-way cycle track, improve the landscaping of the area, and more. These upgrades will revitalize an area in which 28 percent of the residents are living below the poverty level.
Historical context
- Stewart Avenue is a thoroughfare that is constantly in use by students and adults alike, but its state of disrepair makes traveling along it an unpleasant experience. “Stewart Avenue serves as a lifeline for many to reach school, essential goods and services and transit. The GreeNVision: Stewart Avenue Complete Streets project would completely transform the look, feel and function of the corridor, transforming into a highly functional, inviting and multimodal space.” – City of Las Vegas, September 29, 2022
- Many local residents walk, cycle, and take the bus. “About 20 percent of households in the project’s scope do not own a vehicle, and 35 percent of residents use an alternate mode of travel, such as walking, cycling and taking the bus, according to Joey Paskey, deputy director of the Las Vegas public works department.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 7, 2023
- Commuters, schoolchildren, and residents currently face a hostile, unpleasant experience due to traffic and heat. “Stewart Avenue serves as a main passage for many individuals to reach school, work, essential goods and services, or transit locations. Along the corridor, each census block is designated as an area of persistent poverty, historically disadvantaged community, or both. As it currently exists, traveling on foot or bicycle along Stewart Avenue is an unpleasant, hostile experience. With more than 35 percent of all users being pedestrians and bicyclists, the fragmented sidewalks and minimal shade is creating a growing concern. Additionally, several gaps in the existing sidewalk and bicycle network make it difficult for pedestrians to get where they need to go.” – Parametrix, December 7, 2022
Project summary
- The investment will help transform the area into a green, vibrant, landscaped avenue with a cycle track, wider sidewalks, and easier passage for people with disabilities. “The project includes the installation of a protected two-way cycle track (east of Eastern Avenue), sidewalk widening and obstruction removal to meet or exceed ADA accessibility guidelines, upgraded lighting, bus stop improvements and amenities, the addition of significant landscaping and street trees, prediction technologies for cyclists and pedestrians near intersections, and a corridor-wide speed limit reduction.” – U.S. Department of Transportation, last accessed May 2024
Outcomes, improvements, and practical impact
- The project is focused on underserved local residents. “The project will redevelop a neighborhood corridor to serve underserved residents in the local community. The project will create safe, accessible, non-motorized transportation options by reducing vehicle speeds, creating a dedicated bike lane, improving sidewalks, removing obstructions, and planting hundreds of street trees.” – U.S. Department of Transportation, last accessed May 2024
- The project will install 700 trees to mitigate the urban heat island effect and improve daily life for the 20 percent of local residents who are carless. The project will: “provide true mobility for zero-car households, which 20% of those along this corridor are”; “improve safety and comfort for vulnerable road users – pedestrians, cyclists and transit users”; and “install 700 trees to mitigate the urban heat island effect and increase shade for pedestrians and bicyclists.” – City of Las Vegas, September 29, 2022
Racial equity and justice impact
- 28 percent of the local residents benefiting from this transformation are living below poverty level. “The project will reflect what the RAISE program embodies by revitalizing an area where 28% of residents are living below poverty level.” – City of Las Vegas, September 29, 2022
Official supporting statements
- U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV): “This is all about making our streets safer. … This is an investment as part of the Infrastructure and Investment in Jobs Act that legislation passed. Getting that money into our state is what this is about. As you can see this is an incredible partnership, state, local entities and federal.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 7, 2023
- U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV): “I’ve been working to make sure that the investments we enacted in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law benefit Nevadans, … and I’m glad to see this critical funding coming to my home town of Las Vegas. I’ll continue working to promote projects like these that make our cities and towns safer, more efficient, and more welcoming for everyone.” – Office of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, August 8, 2022
- U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV): “The Stewart Avenue Complete Streets Project will facilitate mobility, make our streets safer, and promote environmental equity in this part of town.” – Office of U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, August 9, 2022
- Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman (D): “The City of Las Vegas is continually updating and improving its infrastructure, and in our downtown areas that means creating complete streets that make our roadways safer, beautiful and more friendly for businesses and neighborhoods. … I want to thank our delegation for working to secure funds to provide ongoing upgrades to our infrastructure.” – Office of U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, August 9, 2022
- Latin Chamber of Commerce Nevada: “Our organization supports the success of small businesses throughout the state, but we have an affinity for this specific project, as our office is located along this Stewart Avenue project corridor. We are a staple in this historically Hispanic neighborhood. We walk and drive this corridor daily. We can do better for our neighbors and better for the region. We cannot think of a more exceptional project that supports our social responsibility to the Latino community.” – Parametrix, December 7, 2022
Selected clips
- “Stewart Avenue project to improve transportation options along corridor” – Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 7, 2023
- “Inspired Projects of 2022: City of Las Vegas Receives $24 Million Grant for Stewart Ave. Complete Street” – Parametrix, December 7, 2022
- “New project expected to transform, improve downtown Las Vegas area” – 8NewsNow, October 10, 2022
- “Stewart Avenue complete streets project” – Fox 5 Vegas, May 29, 2024