Tourist traffic jam angers LV mayor

Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman had 8 1/2 hours to think about what he was going to say to a consultant working to find solutions to highway traffic problems between Southern California and the city.

That's how long Goodman and his wife were in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a return trip on Interstate 15 the day after Christmas.

"Who's supposed to be solving this problem?" Goodman demanded at Tuesday's Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board meeting. "It's a big problem and nobody's taking responsibility."

Tom Skancke of the Skancke Co., hired by the LVCVA to lobby Southern California governments to solve traffic jams that turn northbound I-15 into a parking lot, had an answer: "I don't know," but it wasn't the one Goodman wanted to hear.

Skancke gave a quarterly report on solving traffic problems in the I-15 corridor extending from San Diego and Los Angeles, through Victorville, Barstow and Baker into Nevada. Skancke's report summarized that traffic problems are getting worse instead of better and that solutions are at least a decade away.

The reason: Vehicle traffic is up since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as visitors have abandoned jets for cars.

Even before the attacks, I-15 has been on track to surpass capacity. Skancke's report to the board said that by 2020, I-15 traffic would be at 120 percent of capacity between Barstow and the Nevada state line, 140 percent of capacity between Victorville and Barstow and from the state line to just outside Las Vegas, 280 percent of capacity between Cajon Pass and Victorville and 325 percent of capacity from Interstate 10 to Cajon Pass.

The LVCVA's contracted advertising campaign has been successful in getting gamblers to return to Las Vegas, but a higher percentage are taking I-15 to get here. Some of them are just afraid to fly; others are bargain hunters that are driving because it's cheaper, especially with lower gas prices.

The consultant said growth in the suburbs around Los Angeles has resulted in an escalating number of commuters clogging I-15. And even though the suburbs are growing, they are no political match for big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco that want their lawmakers to vote for highway improvement funds to benefit their own cities.

Skancke added that even when funds are appropriated for highways, construction trails by several years because of strict environmental regulations and a lengthy permitting process.

He said more than $148 million in widening and highway replacement projects have been completed or are under construction in the past three years and more than $386 million in projects will begin construction this year or are under design and targeted for construction in the next six years.

Skancke is an advocate for a project known as the High Desert Corridor, a highway that would link Palmdale, Calif., with Victorville and provide a new east-west route that would serve as an alternative to I-15 to Victorville.

Goodman said the LVCVA should work directly with whoever makes the decisions on highway projects. But Skancke said in his report that there are 29 different agencies and jurisdictions involved, including 44 elected officials in the two states.

And, Goodman said he isn't buying that environmental concerns can delay construction for so long. He said having the right political connections can smooth the process.

"This is a bad, bad problem," Goodman said, recollecting the time he spent in traffic on the freeway.

He recalled seeing billboards for California Indian casinos "with Las Vegas-style gaming" while idling on the highway and he figures it's only a matter of time before Californians frustrated with gnarled traffic abandon their plans to visit Las Vegas and go, instead, to a local Indian casino for their gambling experience.

"Once or twice, they'll put up with the traffic, but on that third time, maybe they'll give the Indian casino a try," Goodman said. "That's when we lose them."