Officials go ahead with plan to reroute Hoover Dam traffic

Thursday, March 22, 2001 | 11:37 a.m.

The Federal Highway Administration has decided to build a $200 million highway across the Colorado River a quarter-mile south of Hoover Dam.

The controversial decision, announced today, to shear off the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain and build a bridge south of the dam was expected. A solid bloc of dissenters supports routing north-south traffic on an improved highway through Laughlin.

Fred Dexter, an activist with the local Sierra Club, said his organization will soon file a lawsuit to force a thorough environmental analysis of the Laughlin route.

The highway administration did not perform a full environmental review of the Laughlin alternative because it was not deemed viable.

The formal "record of decision" is its final step before design and construction, said Dave Zanetell, FHA project manager.

Zanetell said his agency will select an engineering company to prepare the project's final design by the end of June. Construction should begin in late 2002, with completion scheduled for 2007.

Despite criticism from environmentalists, American Indian groups and government officials from Southern Nevada, the highway administration's pick was the shortest and safest, Zanetell said.

"It has the best roadway geometry, has the least impact on sensitive species, such as the desert tortoise and bighorn sheep, and was preferred by the public by a ratio of 3-to-1," he said.

"This decision provides the opportunity to truly resolve a critical bottleneck within one of our major transportation corridors," he said. The goal is to "mitigate and reduce the impact that traffic is having on one of our national landmarks."

Traffic is sometimes backed up for miles on either side of the two-lane road over the dam. All sides agree that historic Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, the source of drinking water for millions, are threatened by the nonstop, bumper-to-bumper traffic.

That traffic is likely to continue to build as the "Canamex" commercial traffic corridor is developed. The corridor, an offshoot of the North American Free Trade Agreement, would bind five U.S. states, Canada and Mexico with one travel route -- the route that now goes over Hoover Dam and through Las Vegas.

But the solution to the heavy traffic has been a flashpoint of disagreement.

Highway administration officials have argued that the Laughlin route would not reduce traffic between Phoenix and Las Vegas. The route over the dam is about 23 miles shorter and avoids the steep grades of the Laughlin alternative.

Tourists seeking a glimpse of the dam and commercial traffic, including trucks, would continue to use the Hoover Dam route, Zanetell said.

But environmentalists and others argue that the proposed route just south of the dam would ruin the view of the river, destroy a mountain sacred to Indian tribes and still endanger the Colorado River from a spill or accident on the bridge.

The Boulder City Council recently split over the issue, with a narrow 3-2 majority voting to urge the highway administration to conduct a thorough environmental review of the Laughlin route.

The town with the closest historic relationship with Hoover Dam joined Laughlin and Bullhead City, Ariz., in urging a closer look at the alternative route.

Not everyone agrees, however.

"The Laughlin route will not solve the Hoover Dam problem," said Joe Hardy, a Boulder City physician and city councilman.

"It's imperative for safety reasons to get the traffic off the bridge," Hardy said.

Hardy said he still believes the highway from Las Vegas through Laughlin needs to be improved, but he doesn't think that will get vehicles off the dam.

Boulder City Councilman Bill Smith, a former volunteer guide on the dam, also supports the highway administration's decision.

"If you look at the problem that they're trying to solve, it's the only alternative that makes any sense," he said.

Smith said critics who charge that it will bring heavier traffic through Boulder City's main road are wrong -- the traffic is already there.

Once the Hoover Dam bypass question is settled, "then we can deal with the traffic in Boulder City," Smith said.

Both Hardy and Smith said they support a bypass that would reduce traffic in their town -- one proposed by the Nevada Transportation Department -- and would wrap around Boulder City's south side.

Councilman Bryan Nix, however, has joined those who oppose the Sugar Loaf alternative.

Echoing the environmentalists, Nix said the basis of his opposition is that the highway administration did not thoroughly study the Laughlin route.

"That's an issue that they really have never fully addressed," Nix said. The Sugar Loaf route will bring in increased traffic that will have a negative effect on Boulder City, he said.

"It's our position that the Canamex route is better through Laughlin and Bullhead City, towns that want that route," he said. "Boulder City is a controlled growth town. Canamex will have a significant impact."

The bridge south of the dam also does nothing to protect the Colorado River and its users in California, Arizona and Mexico, Nix said.

The town might support the Sierra Club's legal challenge, he said.

"We'll be looking at that and making some decisions about what role Boulder City will play, Nix said.

Dexter said the Sierra Club "is prepared to move within 10 days" on a lawsuit.

He said the club hopes to have the support of the Nevada Legislature, which is considering a resolution to support re-opening the environmental review process, including examination of the Laughlin option.

"There is an informal, unified opinion that Laughlin should be considered," he said. "It seems like the federal government is trying to force its will on communities in the state of Nevada in a way that is unwanted."

Zanetell said he believes the highway administration followed the law in the years-long process to come to a decision. A legal challenge won't succeed, he predicted.