LV not included in rail funding

Launce Rake and Erin Neff

Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 | 11:29 a.m.

Las Vegas will not receive any of nearly $1 billion in federal funding for a high-speed rail system, federal officials said today.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater revealed that the money will go to Pittsburgh or Baltimore, two of the six cities competing with Las Vegas for a share of the federal money designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of an urban high-speed rail system using magnetic levitation technology.

A route between Las Vegas and Primm was a finalist for the $950 million in federal funds. The finalists in today's announcement will split $15 million for preliminary engineering studies. Transportation officials under the incoming Bush administration will decide where to invest the rest of the money.

Representing the local project was the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, which hoped eventually to build a 272-mile route from Las Vegas to Anaheim, Calif., for an estimated $6.8 billion. The 40-mile route to Primm would have been the first leg of that project.

Arnold Kupferman, a project supervisor for the Transportation Department's Maglev project, said Las Vegas "was seriously considered," but funding limitations did not make the Nevada-to-California project feasible.

The Pittsburgh rail system would link that city with its airport. The Baltimore alternative would link that city's Camden Yards with Union Station in Washington, D.C., with a stop at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Other cities vying for the money were Los Angeles, New Orleans, Atlanta, Florida's Port Canaveral and Chattanooga, Tenn.

Slater has had funding recommendations from the Federal Railroad Administration on his desk since late last year. He has been the target of intense lobbying by Nevada lawmakers and by politicians representing the other seven areas.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she has been pestering Slater for months, citing advantages of the Nevada project, including its relatively inexpensive cost, flat terrain of the route and potential heavy ridership.

She even attended a holiday party in an affluent Washington suburb after she learned Slater was going to attend. But she found other lawmakers had the same idea.

"We schlepped all the way over there just so I could corner him over hors d'oeuvres and egg nog," Berkley said. "I gave him my best shot yet again."

She said this morning that she had been on the phone with Slater until the final moments, trying to convince the secretary to expand the funding cut to a list of three -- including Las Vegas.

The project may not be the final word on a high-speed link to California.

"If we don't get it today, we'll get it tomorrow," vowed Jack Libby, chairman of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission. "We're not through."

Libby said the new Congress is likely to support a bill that would provide funding for the Las Vegas project.

The commission will meet soon to discuss strategy, he said.

Commission executive assistant Richann Johnson, a senior project development officer for the city of Las Vegas, said Wednesday that the Southern Nevada project had several advantages that would qualify it as a recipient of the federal funds.

"I don't know what happened here," Johnson said. "Everyone understands that we should be in there (among the finalists)."

One plus is that the route would be a relatively "straight shot," Johnson said.

"The train would operate along an existing freeway right-of-way unencumbered by environmental problems," she said. "We can also build it faster than other projects, because we don't have weather constraints."

Bill Mahaffey, transportation marketing manager for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said he hopes funding can be found from the U.S. Transportation Department or other sources.

"I'm quite sure the Nevada-California commission will go forward and try to secure other funding," Mahaffey said. "They will make every effort to keep our route alive."

Berkley said she will use her seat on the House Transportation Committee to try to keep the project alive.

David Cherry, spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Reid was disappointed with the decision, but also will try to secure more funding.

Because of the fast growth rate in the region, Reid is optimistic that funding can be secured, Cherry said.

Reid, who is assistant Senate majority leader until tomorrow, when the Republicans become the majority party, will request full documentation from the Transportation Department on how the decision was reached, Cherry said.

The announcement comes a day after the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a survey showing that 87 percent of Americans believe the federal government has the resources to build a high-speed passenger rail system.

The mayors hope the survey, which included residents of Las Vegas and nine other major cities, will help convince the incoming Bush administration to establish a national passenger rail policy.

The potential benefit to Southern Nevada includes the mayors' support of proposed federal legislation that would help fund high speed rail construction bonds. That would potentially include not only a magnetic levitation train but the proposed monorail that would link the Las Vegas Strip with downtown.

Ingrid Yocum, spokeswoman for the Clark County Regional Transportation Commission, said Congress already helped when it appropriated $155 million in 1998 to help build the monorail.

"We've had a lot of congressional support and we have received earmarked funds for several of our transportation projects," she said.

The mayors' survey found that 82 percent of respondents would support funding for a rail service network as an option to driving their cars. Close to 70 percent voiced support for high-speed train service connecting their cities with other metropolitan areas.

Those who believe traffic is getting worse in Clark County can take comfort knowing that 79 percent of Americans feel the same way about their communities. Only 6 percent of respondents said traffic in their area was improving.

The survey, conducted last month among 1,013 randomly selected registered voters, also revealed that 72 percent believed candidates for elected office paid little or no attention to quality of life issues such as traffic, affordable housing and urban sprawl.