Projects to get fed help

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2001 | 9:02 a.m.

A signature from President Bush is all that's needed to secure more than $67 million in funding for transportation projects in Nevada.

The funding is provided in the fiscal year 2002 Transportation Appropriations bill, which includes $7.35 million for a transit system that uses bus-like cars with rubber wheels to transport passengers along rail-guided lines.

The light-rail system is called MAX, or Metropolitan Area Express, and uses an environmentally friendly diesel-electric fuel engine.

The bill also allows for the $650 million in private funds being used to construct a monorail line along Las Vegas Boulevard to be counted as the state's contribution toward receiving federal matching funds.

Those matching funds will be used to construct a second phase of the project connecting downtown Las Vegas to the Strip at the Sahara hotel. The first phase of the project will extend a monorail from the MGM Grand to the Sahara.

"This is a big win for our community and for our quality of life here in Southern Nevada," Regional Transportation Committee Chairman Bruce Woodbury said.

Other projects that will receive funding if the appropriations bill is signed include: $8 million for the Hoover Dam bypass construction; $8 million for the widening of U.S. 95 at the Laughlin cut-off to Railroad Pass; and $4 million for an air traffic control tower at McCarran International Airport.