Nevada could get $65 million in new transportation spending bill

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada stands to gain about $65 million for transportation programs in 2004 based on an agreement reached by lawmakers Monday, and the bulk of the money would go to projects in Southern Nevada.

Negotiators of the transportation spending bill issued their conference report Monday, almost finalizing transportation spending for the year. The House and Senate still need to vote on the report before the president can sign it.

The bill includes $49.35 million for Southern Nevada transportation projects submitted by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., including $20 million for the Las Vegas monorail, $4 million for a new air traffic control tower at McCarran International Airport, $3 million for the Craig Road overpass in Clark County and $500,000 for pedestrian overpasses in Las Vegas, according to Reid's office.

The bill also includes $7 million for the Hoover Dam bypass bridge and $8 million for the widening of U.S. 95 between Reid's hometown of Searchlight and the Laughlin highway.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., worked on $9 million in the bill including $200,000 for the design of an interchange at Cactus Avenue and Interstate 15, $300,000 for interactive highway signs and $500,000 to study a new bridge over the Colorado River in Laughlin, according to his office.

Porter's spokesman said he continued to push for the Cactus Avenue interchange and Colorado River Bridge Study after the projects were not included in the original House version of the bill.

The bill also includes approvals for federal Airport Improvement Grants for the McCarran International, and the Tonopah, North Las Vegas, and Henderson Executive Airports but the specific amounts of the grants will be determined later.

Of the $65 million, about $15 million will go toward projects in Northern Nevada.

The original Senate bill had $75 million earmarked for Nevada projects. The first Senate version of the spending bill had $25 million for the monorail and $3.5 million for the Craig Road overpass. Other reductions may have been in Northern Nevada projects.

Reid aides said they are still combing through numbers in the bill to find Nevada projects so the total $64.4 million may go up if they find more in the bill.