Bill includes $24 million to help widen I-15

Wednesday, March 25, 1998 | 2:17 a.m.

The multibillion-dollar bill includes $24 million to widen Interstate 15 between Victorville and Barstow. The area is a major bottleneck for travelers heading to and from Las Vegas.

The bill has been passed out of the House Transportation Committee and could reach the House floor next week.

The proposal also contains $7 million to build sound barrier walls along U.S. Highway 95 in Henderson; $5 million for the Carson City bypass; $5 million to extend Interstate 580 between Carson City and Reno, and $4 million to widen U.S. Highway 50 between Fallon and Fernley.

The House bill contains $218.3 billion in spending for transportation projects nationwide over the next six years, including more than $181.6 billion for highways.

For Nevada, the bill allocates $159.1 million each year, in addition to the new project funds, as the state's share of the government's Highway Trust Fund, about 35 percent more than what the state receives now, according to sponsors.

Corresponding legislation that passed the Senate earlier this month appears more generous to Nevada, but state officials cautioned it is too soon to read much into the numbers.

The $24 million for I-15 was arranged by Nevada Republican Reps. John Ensign and Jim Gibbons, and by Rep. Jerry Lewis, a Republican whose district includes the highway stretch in California.

Nevada transportation Director Tom Stephens praised the federal government's contribution to widen I-15, an economic lifeline connecting Las Vegas to tourist and gambling traffic from Southern California.

"That's very important to Nevada," Stephens said. "It's a very large project that will widen something like 25 or 30 miles of a real bottleneck of traffic from Los Angeles."

Overall, I-15 widening will cost an estimated $150 million over the next decade. California and Nevada are expected to chip in additional funds in the future, as are regional transportation boards in Southern California.