Officials praise progress of dam bypass

Stephen Curran

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

The under-construction Hoover Dam Bypass was touted by a legion of state and federal officials on Wednesday as a "commercial lifeline" at the backbone of an international trade route.

And, with the final $90 million in Nevada and Arizona bonds in place, the $234 million project is one step closer to opening on time, the project's supervisor said.

The centerpiece of the project, which would route thousands of cars and trucks around the traffic-clogged, two lane stretch of U.S. 93 that crosses the dam, is a 2,000-foot-long Colorado River bridge located 1,700 feet downstream from the dam.

The current route across the dam, which sees an average of 11,500 vehicles a day, presents "a heavy burden for our transportation system, and it's not as safe as it should be," Gov. Kenny Guinn said during an event at the dam marking the two-year anniversary of the project's inception.

Nevada and Arizona had already committed $20 million each in bonds when planning began in 2001, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The new bonds are expected to be repaid from available federal funds over time, according to the agency.

Both Guinn and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who was also on hand, said the bonds were necessary to complete the much-needed project.

"We had to show our federal partners we were serious," Guinn said.

The bonds, approved for up to $50 million each, bring the two states' stake in the project to roughly $70 million in bonds each, according to the highway administration. The rest of the cost is expected to be covered through a variety of federal funding measures.

Commercial traffic, expected to be a key component of the new bridge, was banned from crossing the dam after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Freight trucks traveling from Arizona to Las Vegas are now routed through a 23-mile detour through Laughlin or a 70-mile stretch on Interstate 40.

The detour, which reroutes roughly 2,100 trucks a day, costs the states more than $30 million annually, according to the highway administration.

"We have no choice," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said of the improvements. "It's for safety and national security. It's something we have to do." Construction on the bridge, which is expected to be named for former Gov. Mike O'Callaghan and former Arizona Cardinals player Pat Tillman, is expected to begin in January and will open to the public in 2008, Dave Zanetell, senior project manager for the bypass project, said Wednesday.

O'Callaghan, a Korean War veteran, popular two-term governor and longtime executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun, died March 5. Tillman, a defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals who left his lucrative football contract to become a U.S. Army Ranger, was killed in April in a friendly fire accident in Iraq.

The official name of the bridge is still pending Senate approval.

The bridge, which planners say would be supported by the largest arch in America, will be akin in scope to the dam's initial construction in the 1930s, still considered an engineering marvel by experts, Zanetell said.

"Not only is it a national landmark, it's a national landmark that recognizes engineering," he said of the dam, the largest public works project of its time. "They set the standard. It's our job to meet it."

Engineers are currently working on the new approaches that will feed into the bridge, one from Nevada and the other from Arizona, Zanetell said. Construction is nearly complete on the Arizona side, he said, while the Nevada side is roughly half-finished.

So far, the project is on schedule, Zanetell said.

The project is at the center of the CANAMEX Corridor, a high-profile traffic artery designated by the North America Free Trade Agreement. The route connects Mexico, the United States and Canada.

"It's a commercial lifeline," Guinn said. "Over the next 15 to 20 years it will be vital for western America."

But Richmond, N.H., resident Terri O'Rorke, who visited the dam for the second time Wednesday, wasn't particularly concerned about the economic side of the project.

Although traffic was light on Wednesday, O'Rorke's first trip in 1997 was not as smooth.

"The traffic was backed up all the way to Boulder City," she said. "We thought, 'There must be an accident,' but it was just traffic. Hopefully it (the bridge) will make it better."

Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro said he expected the new bypass to be a boon for his city's economy. He dismissed current construction traffic as a short-term hassle.

"We're going to have to have vision to see the great things coming," he said. "And even now we have a lot of people (involved with the project) residing in Boulder City."