Nevada's girdlocked roads are a disaster. When will
the Department of Transportation and Legislature    
finally figure out the mess.              BY DAVID HIMMEL

From high atop the Stratosphere Tower, you can see city motorists like Hot Wheels maneuvering the Vegas Valley roadways. They speed past Flamingo Road, northbound toward Sahara Avenue, only to abruptly stop as thousands of drivers funnel through the I-15/U.S. 95 interchange — better known as the Spaghetti Bowl. And moving north onto U.S. 95 to Summerlin? Well, it’s nothing but the brake-foot boogie through the Rainbow Curve. 

In Reno, a similar, frustrating picture is painted along the Pyramid Highway through Spanish Springs. Every morning and afternoon, rush hour attracts the exact same delays in the exact same places. Construction horses are always present, but progress is minimal.

Heaven forbid an accident occurs on these roads. One minor fender-bender — even on the shoulder — can extend motorists’ travel plans an additional 45 minutes. Simply put, the roads of Nevada are hardly a joyride. 

So who’s to blame? The drivers? The ones who speed through red lights? Sleep through greens? Gawk at stalled, shoulder-side vehicles? 

How about the Legislature, for not properly appropriating funds? Or could the problem stem from the government-funded Nevada Department of Transportation? Could it be they are not looking at the right projects the right way?


State Sen. Bob Beers serves as Vice Chairman of both the Government Affairs and Finance Committees. He believes some of Nevada’s transportation problems exist because NDOT hasn’t performed a cost-benefit analysis since the early 1990s. 

“It’s a very specific formula,” Beers says. “It’s well-described and documented by the Federal Highway Administration.”

Paul Enos agrees with Beers. As CEO of the Nevada Motor Transport Association (NMTA), an organization that represents the motor carrier industry with a very active voice in the Legislature, Enos assures that about 33 to 40 percent of the money that goes toward Nevada’s roads stems from NMTA’s members.

Beers and Enos also agree that the reason NDOT isn’t pursuing an analysis is because the organization likely fears the results of one.

“Sometimes when you do those things, it interferes with the political outcome,” Enos says.

“I believe the fellow who was director of NDOT [Tom Stevens] in 1995 did not like the results he was receiving,” Beers says. “They did not support his subjective prioritization of projects.”

Four years ago, both houses voted unanimously for a Performance Audit Requirement, holding NDOT fiscally responsible. But former Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed it.

“NDOT has escaped accountability for a long time,” Beers says.

Enos believes things are looking better for Nevada’s roads and the perception of NDOT. “I think we have an opportunity with the new governor and director of NDOT to make changes to ensure we are spending our money and doing projects in a responsible and transparent way.”

NDOT Director Susan Martinovich told the Legislature that it is her intent to perform cost-benefit analyses on all projects with contracts that have not been approved. In June 2005, NDOT created the Blue Ribbon Task Force, which is designed to look at and run a strict evaluation on the long-term plans for Nevada’s roads. Enos sat on the task force for six months.

“We need to evaluate projects we’re doing and see that we’re getting the best value we can,” he says. “We need to compare that with travel time, safety and vehicle operating costs. Do less pot holes mean less flat tires? We need to look at those factors. We need to weigh the benefits against the costs.”

One of the Blue Ribbon Task Force’s objectives is to evaluate funding options. A particular finding suggests that “nontraditional services” are necessary to solve Nevada’s highway funding challenges.

In addition to the money that NMTA provides, most of the cash that the state uses to build and maintain roads comes from the gas tax. But even that is flawed.

“The problem with the gas tax is that its purchasing power is declining,” Beers says.

The gas tax is expressed in pennies per gallon while the sales tax uses the percentage structure. When inflation hits an economy, a percentage remains constant, but it still means more money because the value changes. With the gas-tax structured in pennies per gallon, each time there is inflation, the same amount of pennies economically fails to buy as much.

“Our gas tax is stuck at 1985 purchasing power,” Beers says.

So the Blue Ribbon Task Force needs to find those nontraditional services pretty quickly. Nevada is in dire straits with its spending power for roads — either because of poor budgeting and planning or because we’ve just run out of money. But the Legislature holds the key to the piggy bank.

NDOT forecasts that the State Highway Fund will be in a deficit by July 2008. In addition, the state has been borrowing money for the last 10 years in order to build roads. The maximum allowance is rapidly approaching, and Beers says that the interest alone is “consuming way too much money.”

The solution?

Well, one includes Gibbons’ plan, which is to take $170 million of the state surplus and put it into road construction. Both Enos and Beers support the proposal.

“It’s like I’ve married a beautiful woman and I love her dearly,” Beers says. “But I get home and open the mailbox to find she’s got 17 credit cards maxed out. I’m not going to divorce her, but we have got to figure this out.”


NDOT’s other problem child is growth. Between 1990 and 2003, per capita highway travel increased by 6.8 percent but per capita fuel use declined 8.3 percent. This drives home Beers’ point that the gas tax is a useless tool for generating money for road maintenance. In that same time period, vehicle miles of travel grew from 9 billion to 19.46 billion.

Of course, growth like Nevada has experienced helps government agencies derail accountability, focusing on issues outside their control like population growth and concerns for the environment. 

Like Bob McKenzie, Public Information Officer for NDOT in Las Vegas, says: “We have to be aware of the biological effects and look after things like plant life, the desert tortoise, archeological concerns and noise.”

Studies like these take time, which is a problem in its own right because of the vast inflation of materials — another reason state financiers need to appropriate money to the right projects right now. And NDOT has to have the right action plan in order.

“It’s getting more expensive to build highways,” McKenzie says. “If we delay much longer, it’s going to cost much more. Asphalt, steel and concrete prices change every year.”

One unusual case involved the widening of U.S. 95 between the Spaghetti Bowl and Summerlin Parkway. The project’s completion date is scheduled for November 2007, and the Rancho overpass should be done in April. But the project was postponed nine months when the Sierra Club, in a case that was the first of its kind, sued, saying scientific research supports that widening the highway would welcome more cars and that traffic-generated pollution would cause cancer. 

Sierra’s basis: The federal government failed to consider health consequences as well as mass-transit alternatives in its proposal to widen U.S. 95 from six to 10 lanes. Regardless of what NDOT had planned with that stretch of highway, the growth in Las Vegas was not going to stop. The demand for that road was rising, which meant that pollution would increase.


The Blue Ribbon Task Force and NDOT plan looked at growth trends. Nevada, both north and south, are growing at exponential rates. Between 1990 and 2003, there was a 92-percent increase in population, suggesting the need for wider roads is imminent.

When planning roads, NDOT officials say they look 25 years ahead. 

“You look at the past, a percentage increase and at new developments,” says Scott McGruder, Public Information Officer for NDOT in Carson City.

“If you look at Blue Diamond Road five years ago, we wanted to widen it to eight lanes,” McKenzie adds. “Many asked, ‘Why? It’s a rural road.’ But look at the growth. The old two-lane may have sustained the traffic, but it’s now substandard.” This Nostradamus-like work is not all NDOT does.

“We also have to do a warrant analysis,” McKenzie says. “The project has to meet certain criteria. How is this going to benefit traffic?”

And don't forget about safety.

“Safety trumps the warrants,” he continued. “Like the traffic signals put in for safety. Blue Diamond Road and Decatur Avenue are great examples of that. At the time, the traffic didn’t call for it, but we had to put them in because of the accident rate.”

Like a true government employee, McKenzie says it’s difficult for NDOT to keep up with new housing developments, built by the more efficient private companies. That, unfortunately, is the nature of working within a governmental agency.

“Developers have a much easier path in developing than we do in maintaining,” McKenzie says. “It’s a slower process to build a highway than a development.”

Beers disagrees with some of the missions the Blue Ribbon Task Force has pursued. Certain projects can wait because projecting growth is not as immediate as the problems drivers face today. To him, more attention should be paid to the parts of the state where current traffic conditions require attention.

“Put that money into the projects we need done now,” Beers says. “There are so many variables and tons of opportunities to make mistakes [with certain NDOT projects]. There are inappropriate projects like U.S. 95 out to Kyle Canyon and I-15 out to Apex.”

The budget is nearing red and the road projects are piling up. NDOT and the Blue Ribbon Task Force need to re-evaluate and prioritize their so-called “Super Projects.” And should the money run out, which it likely will by July 2008, the Governor and Legislature need to find that alternative source of revenue. It could come from the surplus, or it could come from adjusting the gas tax so we’re up to fiscal speed. LW

 

U.S. 50 State officials dubbed Nevada's portion of U.S. Route 50 the “Loneliest Road in America.” Originally part of the Pony Express, this highway runs east/west through the center of the state.  As if a metaphor of life, Nevada’s loneliest road has its ups and downs. Long stretches along the desert floor are augmented by summit passes more than 7,000 feet high.  Oftentimes, the view is expanse as drivers traverse desert valleys and basins, with mountains far in the distance. Then, travelers steer through the mountains with thick pine forests and steep switchbacks.  At the eastern end of this lonely road is Great Basin National Park and Ely’s famous Ghost Train. Toward the center is Eureka, the “Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road,” and Shoe Tree, a tree with shoes in it near the intersection of 50 and State Road 361. On the west end is Sand Mountain Recreation Area and Fallon, home of award-winning cantaloupes. U.S. 95 & I-15 Anyone new to Las Vegas will soon discover that I-15 and U.S. 95 are handy roads for getting across town, but at times move slowly. Downtown, where the two roads meet, giant turtle statues mock drivers who often maneuver like turtles through thick traffic.  A huge construction project promises freer flowing traffic through the heart of Las Vegas, but so far has only offered bad artwork. On the north side of 95 is what, at first glance, could be a cryptic message, but instead is uninteresting and repetitious tribal-like markings. On the southern end is what looks like a child’s rendering of a desert scene, complete with a tree that looks like a cotton ball on a stick.  Still, at most times, U.S. 95 is the best way to get from Boulder City to Summerlin and Tonopah and beyond. I-15 runs swift enough from Primm to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway then onto Mesquite. U.S. 395 This highway runs north/south from California to Washington; it enters Nevada briefly in the Carson City area.  U.S. 395 is known for running along the backside of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and is a popular road for escaping the bright lights of Southern California.  U.S. 395 offers easy access to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. It takes travelers to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. U.S. 6 Another lonely desert highway is U.S. 6, which runs through the middle of Nevada with a slight northeast slant. Crossing the midland of Nevada on U.S. 6 requires a full gas tank.  U.S. 6 may have the fewest gas stations of any other major Nevada road. There are reportedly none between Tonopah and Ely. Food and water are also essential. This part of the Nevada desert witnesses very extreme weather conditions.  This highway runs through Great Basin National Park on the eastern end and connects with Route 50 at Ely. On the western end is the Mount Montgomery Casino, just a couple miles from the California border.  While driving through Great Basin National Park, U.S. 6 offers amazing views of Mount Wheeler, the tallest point in Great Basin. Mount Wheeler is famous for the Lehman Caves and a cool climate in the middle of the desert. I-215, I-515 & I-580 While not complete, I-215 is a highway that wraps around Las Vegas and cuts through Green Valley. The Red Rock Casino is one of the few highlights along this bypass. Other than the luxurious resort, I-215 is mostly a convenient road for folks living on the outskirts of Vegas to avoid congestion.  I-515 is almost a non-issue, possibly created as a way of bringing in more money from the federal government highway funds. Locals are more likely to refer to I-515 as the 93 or 95.  Of course, the folks in Carson City are anxious to get their bypass. I-580 is an extension of U.S. 395 that quickly takes drivers to the east side of Carson City. U.S. 93 U.S. 93 is the road that runs across Hoover Dam into Arizona. However, it’s much more than that. U.S. 93 runs along the eastern edge of Nevada, exiting at Idaho north of Jackpot. It’s known as the Great Basin Highway.  In the early days of U.S. 93, it ran right through downtown Las Vegas, following Boulder Highway to Fremont Street and then to Main Street. It’s had many reroutes since then and the next reroute is expected with the completion of the Boulder City bypass.  This road is another contender for the “Loneliest.” Like the other two lonely roads, U.S. 50 and U.S. 6, U.S. 93 cuts through Ely, which is the biggest city on U.S. 93 north of Las Vegas. Sidebar by Lewis Whitten NDOT and the Blue Ribbon Task Force have labeled a handful of construction plans “Super Projects,” some of which are familiar trouble spots to motorists. Northern Nevada Widening U.S. 395 between The Spaghetti Bowl and Stead Widening I-80 between Robb Drive and Vista Boulevard General improvements on the Pyramid Highway Southern Nevada The Boulder City bypass (which will ease travel to and from Arizona for those looking to avoid Hoover Dam traffic) I-15 between St. Rose and Tropicana Boulevard I-15 between The Spaghetti Bowl and Apex U.S. 95 between Craig Road and Kyle Canyon