215 Beltway Trail set for North Las Vegas connection

The multiuse trail that runs along the 215 Beltway is set for an extension into North Las Vegas.

North Las Vegas officials broke ground Wednesday on the $6.5 million, 2.7-mile 215 Northern Beltway Trail, which will run from north Decatur Boulevard to Clayton Street. The extension is scheduled for completion in late 2027, according to North Las Vegas.

An extension still in the design phase will build an additional 1.8 miles from Clayton to North 5th Street. An additional phase, set to begin later this year, will eventually run for 1.25 miles, between 5th Street and Losee Road.

The addition of the 215 Trail in North Las Vegas was a passion project for the Scott Black, who is an avid cyclist and North Las Vegas mayor pro tem.

“For years, I’ve ridden the other part of the trail that’s already built and it dead ends at Decatur, right at our city limit border,” Black told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I just thought we have to continue it into our city for our residents to connect neighborhoods, to connect communities so we can navigate safely on bikes, walking, etc. And we’ve been working hard for the last handful of years to make this happen today.”

The project includes a paved trail, lighting, landscaping, wayfinding and interpretive signage providing historic facts of the area. The Beltway Trail’s addition will add to a robust trail system in North Las Vegas that already includes 70 miles of trails.

The trail fits into the city’s strategic plan of focusing on healthy families, lifestyles and communities, North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown said.

“I think absolutely, yes, you’ll see this continue to grow as our communities grow, as the city gets larger, we’ll need more amenities,” Goynes-Brown said.

Pro BMX rider and North Las Vegas resident Ricardo Laguna, who has lived in the city for 31 years, said he is excited about the planned trail addition, noting he wished it would’ve existed when he was growing up.

“This community is now going to have an amazing trail. Back then, we didn’t have nothing like this,” Laguna said. “But the good thing is that now we get to enjoy it, and I get to put those miles into this amazing terrain that we’re going to have.”

The Northern Beltway Trail will eventually connect North Las Vegas to Henderson and stretch for 45 miles at full build-out according to the city.

It’s unclear how long it will take to make the connection to Henderson, but for the time being, the first addition of North Las Vegas’ 215 Trail system will connect to the city of Las Vegas’ North Western Beltway, which then connects to Clark County’s Western Beltway.

Those two portions combined represent 23 miles of trail running between Tropicana Avenue in the west valley to Decatur, where North Las Vegas’ trail will connect into the system.

“Right now you could ride this to the southwest part of the valley,” Black said. “Then there is the portion of trail, the River Mountain Trail out by Henderson. Ultimately, over time, you can circumnavigate the entire valley. What’s super cool about our trail segment here is there will be lots of access points, including right here at Aviary Park, that will enable you to get on the trail, go to the store, get on the trail, go to school. It’s short segments, or you can get on the trail from your neighborhood right here at the park and ride all the way to Summerlin or to Red Rock Canyon, which is amazing, with very, very little interaction with vehicle traffic. That makes it safe.”