$210 million in federal transportation funds slated for state

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000 | 10:27 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada is likely to net about $210 million in federal highway money, plus roughly $59 million for other transportation projects specifically for Southern Nevada.

Rep. Shelley Berkley and Sen. Harry Reid, both D-Nev., on Tuesday trumpeted their efforts to secure the money for Nevada. Berkley is a member of the House Transportation Committee, and Reid sits on the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee in the Senate.

"This funding will alleviate the strain on our infrastructure, reduce congestion throughout the region and improve the quality of life for residents of the Las Vegas Valley," Berkley said in a press release.

Reid touted various projects including $20 million earmarked for eventual design and engineering of a bridge that would relieve traffic jams on Hoover Dam. The $200 million four-lane bridge to be built south of the dam has not received final approvals and is not scheduled to be constructed until 2007.

"Drivers, commercial truckers and sightseers all have to compete for the two-lane road that runs across Hoover Dam," Reid said.

The money for Nevada is wrapped in the nation's transportation spending bill now near completion in Congress. The House and Senate are expected to vote on the final version of the bill this week, and President Clinton is expected to sign it.

Congress members are scrambling to finish 11 of 13 spending bills before they adjourn for the year.

In the transportation bill Nevada would get: