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Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
This Nevada Department of Transportation graphic shows the route of the proposed Boulder City Bypass. If U.S. 93 is designated an interstate between Las Vegas and Phoenix, the bypass route would become part of the interstate, officials say.
The proposed Hassayampa Freeway through the western Phoenix suburbs is outlined in red along the left of the map.
Archive
- Freeway to Phoenix gains traction with bridge work (7-15-2009)
- Meeting planned to discuss changes to Boulder City Bypass (7-6-2009)
- Contractor selected for $270 million I-15 project (7-1-2009)
- A boost for DesertXpress (7-3-2009)
- Clark County roads wait for stimulus while rurals get work (6-10-2009)
- Declining gas tax revenue means fewer road projects (6-9-2009)
Documents (.pdf)
Sun Coverage
The Boulder City Council has added its voice to those advocating an interstate freeway between Las Vegas and Phoenix.
With a 4-0 vote, the council approved a resolution supporting the construction of the proposed Interstate 11 between the two cities. Councilwoman Linda Strickland was absent.
The resolution was similar to ones already passed by the Las Vegas City Council, the Regional Transportation Commission and a couple of Arizona municipalities.
But the Boulder City resolution added a paragraph that notes the interstate would go around town via the Boulder City Bypass route that was approved by the Federal Highway Administration in 2005. Boulder City voters have also endorsed that route.
The proposed interstate, currently only lines on a map, would follow U.S. 93 from Las Vegas to Phoenix. It has been a concept since 2007, when the Maricopa Association of Governments drew a freeway around the western edge of Phoenix, in the sparsely populated Hassayampa Valley, and designated it as a potential route for an interstate from Las Vegas.
The interstate proposal has been further helped by the construction of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge, which opens next year, to interstate standards and the widening to four lanes of U.S. 93 from Wickenburg to the new bridge. The newest two lanes are also being built to interstate standards.
In addition, the Nevada Department of Transportation recently redesigned the interchange of the proposed Boulder City Bypass and U.S. 93 to freeway standards and plan to request its designation as part of Interstate 515 when it is completed.
Interstate 11 still requires an act of Congress to receive the interstate designation, said Tom Skancke, a transportation consultant working for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. That would not happen until the next transportation authorization bill goes through Congress in 2010 or 2011, he said.
The next step, he said, is to begin the environmental assessments, which Arizona Department of Transportation spokeswoman Teresa Welborn said probably won’t start until the end of the year.
Skancke believes now, however, is the time to build support for the interstate.
“The resolutions show that constituents and entities support the designation,” he said. “That always helps.”
It also helps that the issue is on the radar of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has said through his spokesman that he plans to be helpful.
Rep. Dina Titus, whose District 3 includes Boulder City, also supports the idea.
“Congresswoman Titus believes that a Las Vegas-to-Phoenix freeway could have a positive impact for Southern Nevada, bringing more tourists and addressing traffic concerns,” her spokesman Andrew Stoddard said. “While there are challenges to making Interstate 11 a reality, she looks forward to working with local and federal officials to explore ways to connect these two metropolitan areas.”
The Boulder City Council members spent little time discussing the proposed interstate before unanimously offering their support.
“I think this sort of thing is needed,” Councilman Travis Chandler said. “Las Vegas could benefit from more traffic coming from Phoenix, and this reflects our interest and the decision of the voters as to what they prefer.”
After the meeting, Councilman Duncan McCoy said he read that Las Vegas and Phoenix are the only two metropolitan areas that do not have an interstate connecting them.
“For Las Vegas and Phoenix, it’s absolutely necessary,” he said. “Spokane and Missoula have an interstate connecting them. Elko and Salt Lake City have an interstate connecting them. Even Laramie and Rock Springs have an interstate connecting them.”
CORRECTION: This story was updated to correct the cities connected by Interstate 80. | (August 12, 2009)
Eminent domain will no doubt be needed...
"Congresswoman Titus believes that a Las Vegas-to-Phoenix freeway could have a positive impact for Southern Nevada,"
Ya Think???
what about all the business on '93 that passes thru b/c
How about running interstate 11 from Las vegas to Reno?
How long would it take to get it all done to interstate standards though? Even if the BC bypass and Arizona's 93 corridor project got funding, there is still (according to the document) a lot of freeway and ROW to get around Phoenix (from before Wickenburg south to I-10). Their report says 2035-2050. Driving down Grand Ave/US-60 is the slowest part of the drive to Phoenix.
Phoenix would get a lot out of it too - if it were a 5 hr drive (instead of 6-7) and no stopping, I'd be more inclined to go to Cardinals games.
Great Plan in my opinion
Siromega -
In less than 10 years, Arizona took one of America's most dangerous roads, a winding, two lane deathtrap, and made it into a safe, fast expressway. The road itself -- medians, grading, turn radius -- is already mostly at interstate standards, with only certain sections of the existing roadway left unimproved.
Arizona does one thing very well that Nevada doesn't, and that's build new roads. They did the same thing to the highway connecting Phoenix to Payson - made it a four lane expressway. And take a look at a freeway map of Phoenix from 1985 or so... you'll see that that city still had essentially three freeways -- the through Interstate (I-17 which fed to I-10) and one spur (US 60 east to Mesa). In 25 years -- most of it coming in the first 15 years -- Arizona built more than 150 miles of freeways around the Phoenix area. (By comparison the 215 Beltway is 53 miles long and is still incomplete)
I would be willing to bet that Arizona will have an interstate-grade freeway going from I-10 to I-40 before the Boulder City Bypass is completed.
I, for one, don't see any need to build an interstate between Kingman and Wickenburg, let alone from Wickenburg to East Phoenix.
The State of Arizona has just spent a bundle of money, building a beautiful safe road from the 40 to Wickenburg. It's a beautiful safe trip, and while there are trucks on it, I have never been stuck in a traffic jam. Build a freeway, and the trucks will come, followed by truck stops, motels, crappy little houses, and a beautiful area of Arizona will be destroyed.
As to the trip between Wickenburg and Phoenix, they already have a fast, straight scenic road called the Carefree Highway, which works just fine, in terms of getting from Wickenburg to Carefree, Cave Creek, Scottsdale, or the freeway down to downtown Phoenix.
The only people who will benefit from an "East Side of Phoenix" freeway, through cities like Surprise, will be (you guessed it) real estate developers.
If Dina Titus is supporting these environmentally insensitive roads in Arizona it's just another fact supporting many Democrats new found surprise that Dina is a DINO.
In a way, I'm glad Governor Jimbo beat her in their contest. Think of how she could have screwed things up in this state, even more, because she is more intelligent than him. I like dumb governors. They don't get anything really detrimental to the environment accomplished.
As a small business owner in Boulder City, a bypass around town will kill ours, and many others. Traffic count has gone down in the past few months, since we no longer have the "scenic route" (to the dam and lake mead) sign directing traffic through downtown, and a big sign by Von's that causes most people to go around downtown now.
Cynical:
Eliminating the cross traffic makes for a safer drive. And while I am also surprised that ADOT is considering a western bypass to connect Wickenburg to I-10 (instead of the Carefree Highway or an even more common-sense solution, AZ 303 to US 60), there may be some long-range planning aspects of that which we're not familiar with. People once thought I-215 in California was rural, too. As for the environment, people are still going to be driving. With any luck in 20 years they'll be driving 75-80 mpg cars, but they're still going to be driving. What won't they be doing? Taking a train from Phoenix to Las Vegas, which would cost far more to construct than an interstate highway.
Lastly, it's a matter of equity. Look at a map of the interstate highway system in the south or midwest. Why stop building freeways now that the west has a population to support that kind of system?
Race Car Diva: People who are in a hurry already skip downtown Boulder City. BC has it much, much better than other cities that lost their U.S. highways. With Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, you still can draw tourists. Ask NDOT to pull out the truck route once the bypass is complete to bring cars back to the historic district.
Government spending created many jobs in the Great Depression, Hoover Dam for example. Some paint that as socialism, others as a wise public investment -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth
Waste of Money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No one has mentioned the dirty word "tolls." Other states have them, why not this project?