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Monday, March 31, 2008
Under Construction
I moved to Las Vegas in the fall of 2002, driving out from my former residence in Los Angeles. On the outskirts of town I passed two signs in quick succession: first your typical “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign and then, less than a mile up the road, a big orange sign that read “Construction Ahead”. Perhaps the hours of driving through the desert had left me a little loopy, but the juxtaposition of the two signs had me laughing for miles.
Vegas is an odd town in many ways, but perhaps the most noticeable to residents is the rate at which it grows, expands, and constantly reinvents itself. For most of the last decade Las Vegas has ranked in or at the top of the list of the fastest growing cities in America. Even with the recent slump in the market houses are still springing up at a prodigious rate, and commercial development--both on and off The Strip--continues at a breakneck pace.
All of this frantic growth and activity is a great boon to locals and visitors alike. Vegas has a fantastic job market for new residents as well as one of the highest per-capita small business ownership levels in the country. It’s also virtually guaranteed that, regardless of whether they come to town once a year or twice a month, visitors will discover something new every time. In a city perhaps best known for its extensive gambling operations, the constant growth and development creates the real win-win-win and contributes greatly to Las Vegas’ unique culture and attitude.
However there is one noticeable downside to all of this expansion, one hinted at by the signs I passed years ago on my way in to town. The “Construction Ahead” sign was a warning about some work being done on the next few miles of the road on which I was traveling, but it may has well have been an addendum to the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign itself. It seems like no matter where you go, there’s always some construction ahead.
Now all of that construction is by and large a very good thing, but it does present one major obstacle for the city planners and development authorities: they’re constantly having to build new roads, expand old roads, reroute roads around construction, and then do it all over again. I imagine there are some people in the planning office with very little hair left; they must constantly be pulling it out screaming, “but we just rebuilt that road last year! What are we going to do to accommodate all of the extra people trying to use it now?”
For a company focused largely on exotic and luxury rental vehicles, the state of the local road system can be something of a challenge. No one wants to rent a Lamborghini and then spend an hour sitting in stop-and-go traffic. Anyone who’s ever visited Las Vegas, whether they leave The Strip or not, knows that we face our fair share of traffic jams and can appreciate the challenges presented by the “Construction Ahead”.
Which is why I’m so pleased to report that some of the big orange warning signs have recently come down, and in their place is a fantastic new chunk of roadway. One of the major freeways in Las Vegas is US 95, connecting the northern part of The Strip to the western portion of the Vegas Valley. I don’t drive this freeway often--it’s not the right connector for items on my daily list of Point A and Point B--but I recently found myself with a new Point B and had an opportunity to experience firsthand the result of all that construction.
And what a beautiful result it is! The roadway is wide and smooth, traffic flows nicely and delay are few. As it happened I took my first cruise on this fantastic new expanse in a Lamborghini Diablo Roadster, with the top off in beautiful mid-afternoon weather, and it’s an experience I highly recommend.
Conveniently enough the refurbished stretch of US 95 is an excellent way to get from The Strip over to Red Rock Canyon, a beautiful and scenic drive in its own right. We’ll soon be putting a page up on our website with some recommended day-trip destinations, but until that’s ready consider this a sneak peek at an itinerary that’ll certainly be high on the list. Go rent a beautiful exotic car and find out for yourself just how magical the combination of an amazing car, wonderful scenery, and an excellent road can be!
Posted by EminenceLuxury at 4:27 PM
