Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Tom Skancke, who envisions high-speed rail being built in Las Vegas, stands at the Interstate 215 underpass at Decatur Boulevard.
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009 | 2 a.m.
What's Your Vision?
Sun Coverage
By 2020 we’ll see major transportation improvements to meet the needs of this community as we continue to grow, with the Regional Transportation Commission leading the way.
Interstate 15 will get a lot more congested because of growth. There will be expansion of I-15 south of Tropicana Avenue and a tremendous investment north of Cheyenne Avenue. You will see additional collector and distributor roads along I-15, and an expansion of the express lanes. I-15 will take on a new look from Craig Road all the way to Blue Diamond Road. Because the fuel tax is no longer reliable, I’m hoping there is some form of congestion pricing to help pay for the roads, where you pay more for driving during peak times.
One project I look forward to is construction of Interstate 11 from Las Vegas to Phoenix. You can’t have only one interstate running through this town and remain globally competitive and provide the economic development this community is going to need. Construction of I-11 should certainly begin within the next 10 years and I give it a 50-50 chance of being completed by 2020.
China just inked a deal with Mexico to build a deep water port in Baja California, which will provide a tremendous stream of goods coming up through Arizona. I-11 would provide a new route to move those goods from Mexico. In fact, if you’re looking at 2020, Las Vegas by then should become an inland port, a port of entry that would create thousands and thousands of jobs. You could have warehousing jobs, manufacturing jobs, high-tech, Silicon Valley-type jobs.
Las Vegas is positioned extremely well to be a hub of distribution in the West when you consider the interstates, existing rail lines and possibility for high-speed rail. And I’d love to have the port fees to help balance the state budget. The best place for an inland port, in my opinion, would be south of town next to the Ivanpah Valley airport, which I believe has a good chance of opening by 2020.
Remember that the Obama administration, Congress and in particular Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have said that rapid transit and high-speed rail are the future of our country.
We should have a fully integrated system by 2020 that includes both bus rapid transit with express services and buses that make frequent stops. For instance, you could have a bus that takes you directly from Red Rock Station to Palace Station. Or you could have a transit line along Sahara Avenue with stops at Jones Boulevard, I-15 and the Strip. It’ll operate like a light rail system, only better because you have more flexibility with where you can have the dedicated right of way. The most likely candidates for bus rapid transit corridors are Boulder Highway, North Fifth Street, Sahara Avenue, Rancho Drive, Flamingo Road, Desert Inn Road, Maryland Parkway, Paradise Road and Industrial Road/Dean Martin Drive.
We have to help people get out of their cars because we can’t build our way out of this congestion.
I also give it a 60-40 chance that we’ll have high-speed rail between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif., by then. Of the competing proposals for high-speed rail, the DesertXpress project appears to be ahead of the curve and I think it’ll get there.
Tom Skancke is a transportation consultant and president of Skancke Co. Ltd., Las Vegas.
We used to send truck trailers to Mexico, they would come back stripped and robbed. An airport in the Primm Jean area would be subject to flooding and dust storms.
Remember that the Obama administration, Congress and in particular Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have said that rapid transit and high-speed rail are the future of our country. SHOW ME THE MONEY, CASE CLOSED. WE WILL NEVER GET A PENNY...NOT NEVADA!
the desert express is the wrong program. why build something that is already out of date today? A new high speed rail was just announced as the fastest in the world, and we're gonna build a steel wheel train? TO VICTORVILLE? If I am living in CA and have to drive 2hrs to get the train in victorville and then pay $100 for the pleasure of a train raide, I'll just drive another 2hrs, for $20 in gas AND have my car ! Build a mag-lev to the OC and now you have a transportation "problem solver" !
The best (only) way to get people out of their cars is to make it too expensive to drive. We only react to what hits us in the wallet. Just look at how long people in LA, Miami and other cities will wait in traffic. People will adapt to waiting but they will stop driving if gas prices are too high.
Our solution should not be to wait for a "new" technology but to force the issue. We did not wait for a "miracle" to split the atom to win WWII. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work - of course it was gov. funded with taxes no doubt. See what our gov. can do when we make them do it!
High speed rail is so much more convenient and flexible than air travel that it won't be hard to convince people once they try it.
I've used the Amtrak Cascades line extensively from Portland to Seattle. It takes about 3 1/2 hours (vs. 3 hours driving) because it is hamstrung by an 80 mph speed limit and several towns with lower limits. With about a billion dollars of investment, the train could cruise at 110 mph between stops, cutting travel time to 2 1/2 hours from Portland to Seattle.
Why spend a billion dollars on a train line? Because we already are spending money on airports; because highways now have limited upgrade capacity (in Las Vegas' case, what are you going to do to I-15 to California, widen it to eight lanes?) and because cars *are* limited to 80 mph.
So when you give people three options side by side:
- Driving to Los Angeles at 80 mph, taking about 3 1/2 hours,
- Flying to Los Angeles, with 1-2 hours at McCarran, 1 hour in flight and 1 hour at the airport, for 3-4 hours total,
- Or taking a high speed train with no seat belts, no security screening, room to walk around, a cafe car, on a trip that will take 2 1/2 hours including two stops (Victorville and San Bernardino)... I believe people will "vote with their feet," so to speak, and choose the latter.
On the same front, I believe people would make the same choice for travel to Phoenix and Salt Lake. Clearly, there's a market for it -- otherwise Southwest Airlines wouldn't do the business it does. I just don't think enough people have tried it to understand why the investment makes sense (and more sense than highways or airports).
What ever type of train gets going, heading to Vegas, will have a bar car. I bet the bar car will overprice the beer. I also beleave not enough bathrooms will be installed, so it should be the fastest train they can build. Becouse people will lug thir coolers on the train.
Once again, you have to ask if SIG ROGICH is trying to shove something terrible down the throats of people?
He got away with it with Jim Gibbons. And look at where Nevada is today. The bottom.
Sig stuck Nevada with Gibbons while I suspect he profits from it.
Now Sig wants to stick Nevada with high speed rail instead of the faster, clearner and more efficent Mag-Lev train.
He even promised Republican votes to Harry Reid to support high speed rail. Reid buckled and switched his support from Mag-Lev to high speed. What a sell out. And for what? Republican votes? Who admits to being Republican these days? Might as wear a shirt with writing on it that reads; "I'm an IDIOT!"
So why is Sig attached to the high speed rail? Profit? Money? Greed?
Nevada overwhelming wants the MAG-LEV...and, will get it.
The Mag-Lev train works perfect in China. China. You know that communist red country that's kicking our a**.
Why Skancke? Sig hiding? His connection to Gibbons and putting him into the Governors office might taint public support for high speed?
Like Sig, I have doubts Skancke is bright. Certainly no leader. Visionary?
We can not turn the future of transportation over to Skancke. Since when did he become such a transportation guru? Can he tells us that? Huh? When? When?
Probably when he cashed the first pay check.
Could this Skancke guy be a lap dog for Rogich? You know the type, the kind of lap dog that whenever Sig says jump, Skancke would asks "How high, Sir?"
Question for the Sun: Why is the SUN being biased about this issue? Where are the Mag-Lev people giving their vision for the future?
It's the cost. For the price of Maglev to Primm you can have HSR to LA. You don't want your taxes to go up, do you?
Listen sheep ! you must be able to think outside the box! Our very existence is based on the creation of the railroad! A high speed train to LA, Interstate to Phoenix, as well as high speed trains running north, east, and west, interconnectivity with all of the southwest! Commerce, business, commuters etc. are we getting it now sheep? Las Vegas becomes a hub, a part of the southwest corridor, and not a little island in the middle of the vast Mojave and Sonoran deserts. No matter what the cost, IT MUST BE DONE, and NOW !!!
There are many interstates in and out of California. Why would anyone consider Las Vegas, which is really "out in the middle of nowhere" a smart distribution hub. It's far away from any major population center. Distribution calculus demands close-in warehousing to where the population base is. Las Vegas is not near any population base except for foreclosed houses. Nevada needs to go back to being a "novelty" state of 1.5 million people and built incrementally from there.
The point of an inland port would be to separate out containers destined for different parts of the country. That job is already being done in LA and the inland empire, with rail links up the west coast, across to SLC and across to New Orleans. With expansion constrained in California, the Panama Canal is being widened to allow more goods from Asia to be off-loaded east of the Rockies. How could Las Vegas possibly compete with that?
A freeway between Las Vegas and Phoenix wouldn't be used all that much because there aren't a whole lot of people that live in-between those cities. If that city pair is underserved, add more flights or switch to larger aircraft. Most imported freight from Asia travels west to east, not south to north.
A straightforward spur off the California high speed rail starter line would massively relieve passenger traffic at McCarran and enable high speed cargo services, effectively eliminating any need for the Ivanpah Valley relief airport. What would it take? Add a connector connector along CA-58 between Barstow and Mojave to the DesertXpress proposal and switch to non-compliant off-the-shelf rolling stock capable of 220mph top speed. Next, obtain trackage rights to run direct trains from both Anaheim/LA and SF to Las Vegas in phase 1. Network extensions to Sacramento, Irvine and San Diego are already planned for phase 2.
It would be massively more cost-effective to piggyback off the California effort than for Nevada to try and run its own set of tracks into the LA basin, especially if based on incompatible maglev technology. There's just no right of way for any of that west of San Bernardino.
If Las Vegas wants to grow beyond its economy beyond entertainment and conventions to something more recession-proof, the real ticket is reliable renewable electricity, e.g. a combination of solar and hydro plus perhaps some synthetic hydrocarbon fuels based on algal oil. California wants all of that, Nevada has plenty of room and sunshine. Focus on designing poles that can support both the 25kV AC overhead catenaries for the trains and a new high voltage DC distribution line. The Ivanpah Airport site would be perfect for a solar power farm.
Carson- Why would anyone consider Fernley or St. George (both cities on only one interstate and no major crossroads) as smart distribution hubs? And yet they are.
Take the 23 largest cities in the West, which are cities larger than 350,000 people and make up 83 percent of the West's population. Run a mileage matrix between these cities, and you find that only Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Stockton and Visalia are closer, on average, to the others than Las Vegas. Now look at a map, and you realize that none have the same geographic advantages that Las Vegas does.
So, if you want to compete with those cities, and you can, you have to offer something for the employer. Good employees. Good education. High quality of life.
Without those things, they'll just as easily go to Sacramento, even if they have to pay a little higher in taxes.
Average distance between Western cities:
569 Bakersfield
571 Fresno
574 Visalia
579 Stockton
583 Sacramento
601 LAS VEGAS
602 Reno
607 Los Angeles
612 Salinas
613 San Francisco
680 San Diego
691 Salt Lake City
700+ Phoenix, Boise, Tucson, Eugene, Portland, Albuquerque, Denver, Seattle, Colorado Springs, El Paso, Spokane
I get the feeling apart from the likes of EnviroPro (and not only on this article) but anything to improve a failing economy is met with disdain. I for one want Las Vegas to succeed with out the reliance on MGM et al for employment. Enough of the one trick pony town that we have now. I want these Political representatives of Las Vegas to bring in new business,new employment and new prosperity. But then I woke up and realized it might be time to move on.
Notice Skancke sez Red Rock and Palace Stations? Desxpress is Rogich/Station hoping to get some money out of their land at Trop and I-15. They could care less if it makes sense for the valley as long as it feeds their land. A railroad of some sorts makes sense, but not to Victorville. If so, let's stop it at the M Resort and save traffic in the resort corridor.
Gibbons is a non-entity. Lowdung supports Gibbons, Ensign, and nukes at Yucca. When people find that out, she will lose.
This guy will be living under the underpass with views like that.
The only congestion currently is the mass exodus of people moving out, jumping ship before she sinks. Vegas has to decide what type of city this is going to be. Is it going to continue to rely on gambling and attract transient people? I think that before I- 11 and the train to Victorville are built it must be decided. What will people do when they get here? How do you keep them here? What does this place have to offer that is better than everywhere else? Until then it sounds like politicians making deals so their buddies can make money. Why is the desired destination Victorville?
If this guy thinks people are going to stop driving their cars to ride a bus he is crazy. If you want people to start riding public transit it must be a train with stations close to where people live and work. This city just doesnt lend itself very well to that.
I-11 construction before 2020? Hah yeah right. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it - cutting an hour or so off the drive to Phoenix (making it 4.5-5 hours instead of 6-7 depending on Dam traffic, which I hear is much worse now because of the Christmas Crotchbomber). I just don't think its likely - McCain would oppose any earmarks that Reid and the other Senator from AZ would try to get for the corridor. AZDOT wont have the I-40/Wickenburg widened to two lanes in each direction until 2025, plus the construction of brand new highway from before Wickenburg to the Hassayampa Valley west of Phoenix.
That said, the US population needs to undergo a huge attitude adjustment if they really want nice things and want to compete with China this century. China seems to have no problems building high speed maglev trains. Here we have a bunch of NIMBYs and people who want to throw up every roadblock possible to keep it from happening. In China, its a point of national pride to have the world's best and most advanced technology. The US West is very well suited to high speed maglev because of the large distance between stops. It should be done and done quickly.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnew...
The Chinese train is not a maglev, it is steel wheel on steel rail just like the Desert Xpress.
WOW!
"China just inked a deal with Mexico to build a deep water port in Baja California, which will provide a tremendous stream of goods coming up through Arizona"
This will kill Long beach port. They've been talking about this for over 10 years. It was originally suppose to be a joint project with the US to relieve the Long Beach port, now it will replace it, guess we messed that one up...
I live in southeast Los Angeles County. The hardest part of my drive to Las Vegas is the part from here to Victorville -- after that, it's cruise control all the way. Then again, I never make the drive on Friday or Sunday. I'm not leaving my car in Victorville and Metrolink doesn't go out there, so how am I going to board this train? Will the LV casinos provide shuttles from around Southern California to the Victorville station?
For once - I agree with environprotector! IT MUST BE DONE ASAP!
High speed rail = tourist dollars, jobs, growth, etc.
I would like a rail system but I'm afraid it will be another sink hole like the CAT bus system and Amtrak. They both lose a lot of money. In addition, I am afraid that the only way they could make it profitable is to force people to use it.
It sounds like high speed rail = too much money.
jr99 - All transportation "Loses money." When was the last time you drove on a road that "paid for itself"?