Arts District businesses struggle during downtown Las Vegas construction project

Arts District businesses are reporting hardships as a major infrastructure project reshapes traffic patterns along Charleston Boulevard. Co‑owner Kimberly Bender of Cornish Pasty Co. described the situation as “It conscionable been a implicit nightmare for us,” noting that lunchtime patronage has suffered because “Lunchtime business, it’s truthful hard to find parking, and past you know you have your one‑way streets,” she said. “It kind of made it much harder for people besides to gain access to us.” Josh Kellman, president of the nonprofit 18b Arts District, observed that summertime typically brings slower sales, but the current work is exacerbating the decline. “The construction is causing a little bit more people to stay away from the area,” said Kellman. He added that proximity to Charleston intensifies the effect: “The closer to Charleston you are, past you’re going to be much more greatly impacted by the construction,” said Keller. The $49 million “Charleston Storm Drain” initiative, financed by the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, the Regional Transportation Commission and the city of Las Vegas, involves installing new storm‑drain infrastructure from Maryland Parkway to Commerce Street to mitigate monsoonal flooding. The two‑year project has introduced 24‑hour lane restrictions, reducing travel to a single lane on certain sections of Charleston Boulevard. Cornish Pasty Co., situated directly in the construction zone, reported a 20 percent drop in revenue compared with the previous summer, according to Bender. Beginning Monday, Main Street will be closed on the southbound side of Charleston Boulevard for approximately three weeks, as outlined in a city of Las Vegas press release. The schedule calls for marathon 24‑hour workdays from Monday through Aug. 15 while large box culverts are installed, followed by a 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily routine for the subsequent two weeks. After completing work on Main Street, crews will shift one block east to Commerce Street. Motorists are advised to anticipate delays and to use Oakey Boulevard or Bonneville Avenue for east‑west travel and Las Vegas Boulevard for north‑south routes. Sarah Collins, owner of Main Street Peddlers Antique Mall, said her sales have fallen about 30 percent. “I’ve had 8 credit card transactions today. I have 7,500 square feet,” said Collins on Thursday. “The best day that we had last month was First Friday … We had to stay open an extra 4 hours to make any numbers.” Collins, who was among the few businesses that survived the 2017 conversion of Commerce and Main Street from two‑way to one‑way traffic, characterized the current disruption as worse than that earlier change. The city has been keeping Arts District merchants informed about the project’s progress. Kellman noted that the contractor, Harber Company Inc., “is moving as quickly as possible to get the large box culverts in place,” said the city of Las Vegas in a statement. He emphasized that the work aims to improve infrastructure rather than to harm local commerce: “The work that’s being done is not done to specifically, obviously, hurt a business. It’s being done because it’s infrastructure that needs to be done,” said Keller.