Report: State gets D-plus in traffic congestion

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 4:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Motorists in Las Vegas are spending an extra 31 hours a year driving to and from work because of the growing traffic snarls, a new report says.

In rating the state's highway system, The Road Information Program, a nonprofit group, gives Nevada a D-plus on road congestion.

"More than half of Nevada's major urban roads carry a high volume of traffic and are considered congested because they often carry more traffic than they were designed to handle," the Washington, D.C.-based organization said.

The report was presented Monday to the Legislative Study Committee on Local Taxes, which also heard presentations from Clark and Washoe counties on November ballot questions to raise more money for road improvements and new construction.

The nonprofit group that did the study, nicknamed "TRIP," is financed by insurance, construction and equipment supply companies as well as businesses involved in highway engineering and unions.

In the Las Vegas area Paul Haaland, associate director of policy and research for the group, said delays caused by traffic congestion increased 54 percent in the 1990s.

"Las Vegas motorists spent an additional 31 hours annually getting to work because of traffic congestion in 2000 than in 1990," Haaland said.

The group compiled information from the Nevada Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Census Bureau, the state Economic Development Commission and the Texas Transportation Institute.

It found the major roads statewide are "in relatively good shape," but that 6 percent were in poor condition and 22 percent in mediocre shape.

Most of Nevada's primary bridges are in good condition, but one-third of the state-maintained bridges will be about 50 years old in 2010, an age when many bridges require major repair or replacement.

Nevada's traffic fatality rate is 1.83 for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled -- 20 percent higher than the national average of 1.52.

Las Vegas was 18th in the nation in traffic congestion and fifth in traffic fatalities, Jacob Snow, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission, said.

The report said Nevada has nearly $2 billion worth of road projects that could help relieve traffic congestion and improve traffic safety, but currently are not funded.

Most of the state's revenue for road construction comes from the gasoline tax, last raised in 1992. Since then its purchasing power has been eroded by inflation. The statewide tax is 23 cents a gallon, with 17.65 cents going to the state and 5.35 cents going to the counties. The state allows counties to impose an additional tax.

Haaland said Nevada could lose between $20 million and $30 million in federal highway construction funds as Congress rewrites the transportation act.

Snow and Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury outlined the $2.7 billion tax plan to go before the voters in November for money for road improvements and more public transit programs.

Washoe County has a similar plan to relieve its transportation woes. Gregory Krause, executive director of the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County, told the board there is a projected shortfall in road building and transit operation money of $816.5 million.