Bypass route raises fears of growth

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 10:21 a.m.

A potential U.S. 93 bypass route long favored by the Boulder City Council passes through a section of federal land -- raising concerns about the possibility of commercial development there.

Some residents have even speculated that a casino could be constructed on the land, which is less than a mile south of Boulder City, the state's only non-gambling town.

Part of the route "goes through (Bureau of Land Management) land and could be auctioned for casino land," said Dick Bravo, chairman of the Boulder City Planning Commission.

But Mayor Bob Ferraro said Thursday that even though the preferred route creates the possibility of commercial development, a casino built on an island of federal land "would be the epitome of something totally unacceptable to Boulder City."

"I'm absolutely opposed. That would just open a Pandora's box," Ferraro said. "We need to protect the community, and the business community, as it exists."

Despite the reassurances, residents are wary, concerned about the consequences of "Alternative D" -- as the route is called.

"I don't know why (city council members) want D so strongly," resident Lora Smyth said. "If you compare the options one by one, D seems like the worst one."

Resident Barbara Walter, who said she doesn't want her view of the Eldorado Valley to the south destroyed by a highway running through it, said, "I think the council knows something we don't know."

The flap over the specter of a third casino on the outskirts of town -- the Railroad Pass and Hacienda casinos flank the town on the west and east, respectively -- could be just the first of several issues to split what has been almost unanimous support for a bypass that critics point out is far more costly and disturbs more open desert than two other planned routes.

Preliminary maps of the three routes under consideration by the state highway department have circulated for several months and a 60-day comment period recently closed. NDOT is planning the expanded highway to meet traffic increases along the main route between Phoenix and Las Vegas. Many expect the the completion in 2007 of the Hoover Dam bypass to speed increases.

Alternative D would build 15 miles of new highway around the south end of town at an estimated cost of $340 million. The other two options, both estimated at $240 million, would keep the expanded roadway close to the existing path, which travels up the Hemenway Valley and through the west end of downtown.

City officials have said many times that the two more economical options "would split Boulder City in half" and destroy it. Alternative D, they say, is the only way to preserve the town.

But now for the first time publicly, some residents are expressing opposition to Alternative D.

"Route D seems to me to be the worst choice, not the best," Bravo said at Tuesday's Boulder City Council meeting. "I feel a little like Don Quixote, but I looked at the draft EIS (environmental impact statement) and it's really the wrong thing to do from a purely objective, logical point of view."

Bravo pointed out several aspects of the draft EIS showing that Alternative D disturbs significantly more desert, more protected habitat, more national park land and that it could degrade air quality.

The 44,000-acre "island" is owned by the BLM and leased to the Western Area Power Administration, which manages the Mead electric substation within the area.

Rex Wells, a BLM administrator, said the federal land outside the boundary area could be auctioned.

Though the city is considering an off-ramp just north of the substation at the request of the police and fire departments, Ferraro said that access would in no way open the door to private development.

"There might be a push, a number of people desiring to locate there," Ferraro said, "But even if they did, they would have difficulty doing business because we would not provide services."