Nevada scores high on roads survey

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 11 a.m.

A study by a North Carolina researcher finds that Nevada gets more for its highway dollar than most states.

The report by the Center for Interdisciplinary Transportation Studies at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte ranked Nevada 13th in the country for overall highway performance.

"It's the question that your mom would ask: How much money did you get and what did you do with it?" said David Hartgen, a UNC-Charlotte professor, who wrote the study with graduate student Nick Lindeman.

Nevada scored relatively high -- 13th in the country -- for the condition of urban interstates and rural roads other than interstates. The state scored even better -- second -- for the condition of its bridges.

In other areas the state didn't fare as well, Hartgen reported. Nevada scored 34th in the country for urban traffic congestion, and 44th for fatal accidents.

Rural interstates also hurt the state's ranking, with Nevada coming in 40th.

The state ranked 27th, very close to the national average, for spending on state roads.

This is the ninth year for the annual study, Hartgen said, and Nevada's overall ranking was the same last year.

Still, Nevada Department of Transportation officials were pleased with the relatively good rank for the state's highways.

The state is trying to develop "the economical yet safest roads possible," said Bob McKenzie, NDOT spokesman.

He said the state could improve its national ranking in the future thanks to high-profile projects in Southern Nevada, including the widening of Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Primm and U.S. 95 through the Las Vegas Valley.

And the fatal accident rate, which Hartgen called a "black mark" for the state, should improve, McKenzie said.

"We are taking every effort to increase rumble strips to reduce drivers drifting off the highway and leading to accidents," McKenzie said.

Nationally, the study found only one area worsening: traffic congestion on urban interstates.

Hartgen attributed the improvement nationwide to increased funding for major highways, which rose by 9.8 percent to $66.4 billion from 1997 to 1998.

The states topping Nevada were: 1. North Dakota, 2. Wyoming, 3. Montana, 4. South Carolina, 5. Idaho, 6. Georgia, 7. Texas, 8. Oregon, 9. Kentucky, 10. Alabama, 11. Kansas, 12. Maine.

The five worst states, in order, were: Hawaii, Arizona, New York, Massachusetts, and dead last was New Jersey.

Launce Rake covers growth issues for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4127 or bye-mail at lrake@lasvegassun.com