National Register Listing

Clark Avenue Railroad Underpass

a.k.a. Bonanza Road Underpass

Jct. of Bonanza Rd. and Union Pacific Railroad Tracks, Las Vegas, NV

The underpass represents the symbolic "opening up" of the Westside, now called West Las Vegas, after 31 years of being physically separated from the east side of Las Vegas by the Union Pacific railroad tracks. Since 1905, when the Westside was settled, then called the McWilliams Townsite, relations between the two communities had been hindered by dangerous crossings over the railroad tracks, delaying water and sewer services, electric lighting, and commercial trade. The Westside was also slowly becoming more and more segregated, as residents of thriving black Las Vegas neighborhoods were forced to relocate their homes and businesses to the Westside. Overcrowding resulted in the construction of substandard housing, exacerbating the already noxious conditions created by the lack of clean running water. The construction of the underpass was a civic attempt to ease the straining relationship between the white and black communities, as well as a means to facilitate infrastructure improvement on the Westside.

Furthermore, the construction of the underpass was made possible through federal funding under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program under the "New Deal" introduced by President Roosevelt in 1935 to bring relief to the millions of people left without jobs after the Great Depression. The Clark Avenue Underpass was one of 78,000 bridges constructed under this program. The spirit of the New Deal program and WPA befitted the construction of the underpass and what it stood for, and although the underpass, directly and indirectly, improved the quality of life for many Westside residents, it did not stimulate economic redevelopment of the Westside as it had hoped to.

The underpass structure retains the integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association. The structure has not been moved, and the surrounding neighborhood has changed little, with the exception of additional industrial development. The structure continues to serve the community as a convenient way to traverse the railroad tracks and is heavily used as one of very few of these structures in the city. The simple design details and elegant structural aesthetic belies not only the use of the structure, but its status as a federally funded project, continuing to associate it with the time in which it was built-when trains were moving supplies and workmen, and highways were the post-Depression American's ticket to freedom and relief from drudgery.

Although not as strong as the other qualities, the underpass retains the integrity of materials, workmanship, and design. The underpass has been widened, however, the additions were thoughtfully executed, continuing the original design elements, materials and dimensions. It should be noted that the structure is not being submitted for nomination based on its retention of these qualities, so much as its significant social importance and association with significant national and local events.

The period of significance has been defined as 1936, the year of construction, to 1954, the 50year mark.

Local significance of the structure:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2004.