By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The bicycle party is over on the Red Rock scenic drive, which allows motorists back on the toll road Monday.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Feds who run the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and the 12.7-mile scenic drive, reopens the toll booths at the entrance to people driving cars after bicyclists, hikers and walkers were permitted to use the “Red Rock Loop” for about two months during the COVID-19 by entering the loop at the drive’s exit on State Route 159.
On Sunday, bicyclists were pedaling up and down the scenic drive’s hilly terrain in both directions for the last time. The Red Rock scenic drive will open at 8 a.m. at the toll entrance and the road will close at 4:30 p.m. during an interim period. I spoke with two BLM staffers in a federal truck Sunday morning and they said it’s unknown when the scenic drive will return to opening at its usual 6 a.m. start time.
“Today is bittersweet,” a bicyclist named Kristen who I met at the scenic drive overlook.
The novel coronavirus crisis has created unprecedented business shutdowns and public land closures, but the BLM staffers who manage Red Rock did allow bicyclists and walkers access to the popular scenic drive without having to worry about car traffic.
Kristen said those conditions prompted her to leave the stationary workout bike and hop on a road bicycle to pedal the Red Red loop. On Sunday, she was sitting on a bench at the scenic drive overlook waiting for a bicycle friend.
Closing the scenic drive to motorists and keeping it open for bicyclists and walkers also attracted many bicyclists and families on two-wheelers who otherwise would not be biking on the road if motorists were still using it. LVSportsBiz.com has suggested to the BLM that the federal agency hold periodic weekend morning sessions when the scenic drive is open only to bicyclists and walkers without cars.
All the casual bicyclists who flocked to the Strip and the Red Rock scenic drive during the pandemic shutdown showed that when inexperienced bicyclists don’t feel threatened by cars they will use their two-wheelers instead of allowing them to collect webs in the garage.
Speaking of opening back up, the overlook on state route 159 a quarter-mile from the scenic drive exit was also re-opened by the BLM Sunday.
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