Editorial: Road work must stay a priority

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003 | 8:52 a.m.

In September 1999 the Nevada Department of Transportation labeled U.S. 95 between downtown Las Vegas and the city's northwest as the most congested stretch of highway in the state. That November, Gov. Kenny Guinn, empathizing with the plights of tens of thousands of commuters, put plans for widening the highway on a fast track. We were glad to hear in Guinn's State of the State address that he still considers the project a top priority. We also agreed when he asked the Legislature to swiftly approve transportation projects that voters in Southern Nevada and Northern Nevada approved on advisory ballot questions.

When work on U.S. 95 is finished, the east-west portion between Martin Luther King and Rainbow boulevards will have been widened from six lanes to 10, and the north-south portion from Rainbow to Craig Road from two and four lanes to six. After Guinn's fast-track order, design plans were prioritized, rights-of-way acquisitions were speeded up, and early construction phases were undertaken, enabling the finish date to be moved up a year, to 2006. The accelerated work is appreciated by the commuters who measure their progress by the inch during rush hours. Guinn will ask the 2003 Legislature for $325 million to complete more of the widening as well as other major projects, including an interchange at U.S. 95 and the Las Vegas Beltway.

In Southern Nevada, voters approved Question 10 so that construction could begin much earlier on completing the full beltway, so that more routes could be added to the public bus system, and so that we could enter the high-tech world of light rail and traffic-control systems. The Legislature should follow Guinn's lead and approve the $325 million, plus the new taxes approved by the voters on the transportation advisory questions.