Speaking for Nevada - March 2003

Highway Construction Projects

Keep Up with Nevada’s Growth

by Tom Stephens

Ensuring Nevada’s vital economic lifelines flow freely with commerce and visitors is one of the Nevada Department of Transportation’s (NDOT) most important functions. To this end, as he detailed in his recent State of the State Address, Gov. Kenny Guinn has asked the Nevada Transportation Board to approve the sale of $200 million in new transportation bonds to "jump start" highway construction projects throughout the state. Gov. Guinn also included in his budget an additional $325 million in transportation bonding authority during the next two years.

The challenge for the department is to keep pace with unprecedented population growth, most of it in Southern Nevada. Five major highway projects, at a total investment of nearly a billion dollars, have been designated to receive portions of this bond money because of their size and importance to the state. Each one has been in the development stage for some time, and as Gov. Guinn indicated, great progress will be made in the next few years.

This past August saw the groundbreaking for the next phase of widening US 95 in Las Vegas to 10 lanes. Already there is considerable progress to report. A new bridge at Torrey Pines Drive has been constructed, a great deal of right-of-way acquisition has occurred and a freeway bridge at Valley View Boulevard will go to bid in the fall.

The widening of US 95 in northwest Las Vegas will accelerate. The reconstruction of the Rainbow/Summerlin/US 95 interchange will start this summer and the widening between the Spaghetti Bowl and Valley View Boulevard is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.

The other major Southern Nevada project to start construction this year is the completion of the Southern Beltway between Stephanie Street and I 515 in Henderson. This will include the complex freeway-to-freeway interchange of I 215 and I 515.

In the north, the I 80 and US 395 interchange reconstruction project is well underway. Bridge construction will begin on the long-awaited completion of I 580 between Reno and Carson City and on Phase 1B of the Carson Freeway.

But the story of transportation can be told in a number of ways, including economic terms. Highway construction projects are funded by gas taxes paid by residents and visitors. That money is redirected by the billions back into the economy, providing jobs and the vital infrastructure needed for continued prosperity.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, every $100 million spent in road construction supports 4,210 direct, indirect or induced jobs. During the coming years, the $525 million in bonding for continued roadwork in Nevada outlined by Gov. Guinn translates to more than 10,000 jobs for the anticipated two-year construction period.

There is also a visual component to what we do, and NDOT has approved a landscape and aesthetics program to complement the state’s scenic beauty by blending transportation projects with the environment

At their finest, construction projects can be elegant and awe-inspiring. The Hoover Dam Bridge Bypass will be an engineering marvel and will be the most watched construction project in the United States, perched dramatically above the Colorado River on the crest of Hoover Dam. It will have the distinction of being the country’s largest composite arch bridge when completed in 2006.

For every high-profile construction project, there are thousands of day-to-day jobs such as chip-sealing rural roads, extending culverts and shoulders to make roadways safer and re-striping centerlines and crosswalks.

Extensive pavement preservation projects on Nevada’s state and interstate system are accomplished at one-fourth the cost of reconstruction. By being pro-active and not letting roads deteriorate, Nevada led all states in 2001 with 75 percent of its highways in "very good" condition. Most states have less than half of their interstates and state routes in very good condition.

As NDOT moves forward with highway projects throughout the state, we continuously strive to maintain the correct balance between maintenance and congestion-relief projects, as well as urban and rural needs. We will continue to set goals in cooperation with every county commission and metropolitan transportation authority.

By planning and working together, we will continue to produce results for the economic vitality of all of Nevada.

Tom Stephens P.E. Director, Nevada Department of Transportation