HENDERSON (KTNV) — If you live in the City of Henderson, you've gone to the DMV on Stephanie Street at least once. Well, soon it'll close, likely creating longer drives for those in the city.
WATCH | I caught up with locals at the Stephanie Street DMV to hear their thoughts:
“I do feel bad for the residents at this location because their travel time and/or scheduling could be very different," said Henderson DMV customer Michael Papapietro.
That is a harsh reality some may see soon.
According to the DMV, when this location closes, another one will not take its place in the City of Henderson.
Instead, all services will move to a new state-of-the-art DMV on Silverado Ranch Boulevard and Valley View.
That location is across I-15 and at least a 20-minute drive away from the current Stephanie Street location.
“It hurts; that’s for sure," Papapietro said.
He thinks the drive will take even longer during rush-hour traffic and construction.
“I think it’s going to take an hour plus," Papapietro said. “Depending on where you’re coming from, they could be looking at extended wait times just traveling.”
Why is this even happening though? I asked a Nevada DMV representative to find out.
“Really, it just kind of boils down to funding. It’s just very expensive to operate both facilities," said Hailey Foster of Nevada DMV. “We just work within a budget. Again, it’s all within our highway funds and everything like that. Again, just making sure that we’re not going over the budget that we’re allotted.”
Even with this news, some locals are not happy.
I put out a video breaking down this impending change on my social media accounts last week, and the comments flowed in.
Many are mad about how far away the new location will be from the Stephanie Street DMV; others are concerned about how packed it could be, and some don't understand why a DMV even has to close in the first place.
Foster tells me the Nevada DMV hears your concerns.
“I definitely think it will take a little bit of an adjustment," Foster said. “It’s not the happiest of news for our Henderson community just having to take a little bit extra of a commute, but we promise it’s worth it.”
The new location will be the largest DMV facility in the state with drive-thru options, more counters and more kiosks.
Foster even says the DMV continues to modernize so more and more services are available online to help reduce the impact.
Most of the services that need in-person appointments include driver's license pictures and most inquiries associated with your identity.
Along with these DMV locations, Nevada DMV says there are several kiosks and even DMV services through AAA locations that could help serve your needs.
Papapietro says he'd like to see this change be a positive one for our valley.
“I hope the lines are definitely shorter with the wait times," Papapietro said.
Foster tells me they are still moving through the construction process for the new location. Once that is complete, they will start the process of opening up that location by getting staff all up to speed.
According to the DMV, they will then spend several weeks to a month of fulling moving all services to the new location and begin the process of shutting down the Stephanie Street location.
There is still no word yet on when that process will begin and for how long the Stephanie Street DMV will remain open. However, you can still schedule appointments there for the time being.
We will make sure to update you when we learn more information for a better timetable of when these changes will occur.