Starting Thursday, June 24, Racel Street will be closed to traffic, between Buffalo Drive and Cimarron Road. The closure will continue for approximately six months and is necessary for a $22 million storm drainage improvement project that started this week.

During the closure, traffic on Racel will be detoured at Buffalo and at Cimarron, to Grand Teton Drive. Travel on Buffalo, Coke Street, and Cimarron should not be affected. Access will be maintained for residents on Racel.

This work is part of a project that includes the design and construction of two environmental enhancement areas acting as flood control facilities. Flood control improvements will be constructed on Racel, from El Capitan Way to Cimarron; and on El Capitan, from Racel to Horse Drive. El Capitan, at Racel, will be widened and 4.3 miles of trails will be built at the city’s Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs. The improvements will take approximately 18 months to complete.

The storm drainage improvement project is designed to help alleviate flooding that can occur during heavy rainfall events. The entire project should be completed in December 2011.

Spirit Undergrounding LLC is the contractor. The city of Las Vegas Department of Public Works is managing the project. VTN Nevada is the construction manager.

Funding for this project is provided by the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, the city of Las Vegas, and the Bureau of Land Management through the sale of public lands as authorized by the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. This act allows money from Nevada federal land sales to be used in the state for park and trail projects.